Days of Daze
by Zalucard
Summary: What would happen if Shinji found a new hobby?
1. Chapter 1

It was late at night in the massive underground complex known as NERV. Most of it's staff had gone home for the day. The only people that were remaining were the graveyard shift,a few guards ,and one Ritsuko Akagi.

We find the the faux blond scientist in her office with the lights off, she liked it dark for some strange reason. As usual she is typing on her computer at breakneck speed , back slightly hunched over and eyes speedily scanning the text in front of her.

She was currently reading over the pilots' most recent psych evaluations. It was the last piece of work she had to do before she could go home and relax for a couple of hours before she has to come back and start again.

She had already finished with Rei's and Auska's which only left Shinji. She clicked on the report and began speeding through it as it opened.

As she read, she came across the report from NERV's personal therapist.

Her eyes widened a bit as she read over it. Shinji was showing symptoms of PTSD. Mentally he was sound , but it was the emotional part that was influencing him.

It went on to say that this was most like a result from his child hood and not getting the proper attention needed at that time of emotional development which was the root of his emotional instability.

She flinched a little bit as she remembered the boy's story. _'Who could blame him, he's been through a lot for someone his age, and all by himself too'_ Ritsuko thought to herself. She wished she could help in some way.

She closed the file and exited to her desk top , an orange kitten with a birthday hat on. She propped her head up with her hands by placing her elbows on her desk. She sighed, she knew that a case of PTSD this early in his life could lead to massive psychological trauma latter on in life.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a silver zippo. She blew out the toxic smoke and rubbed her temples as she leaned back in her chair. She could put him on medication , but anything that would help him would be too strong for his liver.

He would need a transplant by the time he was 21 , and who knows how long that one would last? She racked her brain for answers. She and Shinji had grown close over the months he had been apart of NERV.

They started emailing each other , at first it was just to tell Shinji about sync tests and things of the like , but Shinji started whole conversations with her.

Their conversations gave her something to do when she was bored at NERV all day, and Shinji just wanted some one to talk to who didn't beat or tease him.

Ritsuko could have just ignored him , but the guilt of what they had already put him through had weighed on her.

She knew his estranged father only cared if he piloted the Eva , anything after that didn't matter, but it mattered to her. She looked at the cigarette burning in her hand as she tried to think of s solution , but she was stumped.

She sighed again as she put her cigarette out in a nearby ashtray on her desk. She reached down and opened her lower left drawer and retrieved a pill bottle. She opened the bottle with her hand revealing about 15 or so 3 inch joints.

She took one out and put it to her lips as she lit it and inhaled deeply and held the smoke in for a few seconds before releasing it, sending a haze of blue smoke around the room.

Yes Ritsuko smoked pot. Not frequently , just occasionally. Especially when she was stressed out like she was at the moment. Since second impact several governments , including Japan's, legalized the drug to stabilize their economy, and that was good enough for her.

Ristuko took another hit as she felt the drug take effect. Her muscles relaxed and her eyes dropped slightly as she felt the tension flow out of her.

"Now then what could I give Shinji to make him feel better?" She said in a sing song way as she took another hit leaning back in her chair as she did so.

Her question went unanswered as she heard a knock at her door. She put the joint out in her ashtray and got up to answer it. She punched in her code in the number pad near the door that controlled the door's lock.

The door slid open to reveal Shinji. She cast an analyzing gaze over the boy. He had grown a good foot or so and his hair was down to his shoulders, he looked slightly thinner. _'He hasn't been eating right' _She surmised.

She could see something had happened by the dark look in his eyes with darkening rings appearing around them._'Or sleeping by the looks of it/'_ She licked her lips as her mouth was dry now _'Damn cotton mouth' _She thought to herself.

"Shinji is everything ok?" She coaxed.

He looked her in the eye as he spoke. "Not really, Auska went ape shit she just started her period, and I just couldn't take her ranting and raving anymore. Think I could just hide out here for a while?" He pleaded.

Ritsuko thought about it. She was going to leave , but her mind wouldn't let her turn him away. _'Ill just hang out with him for a while.' _ She thought to herself feeling her buzz clearly now.

He walked in and looked around. As he sat down in front of Ritsuko's desk he smelled a weird odor. It smelled like cigarette smoke, but it was much more...loud.

"Ritsuko what's that smell."

Ritsuko had sat down and looked at the joint in the ashtray and then Shinji.

Joint

Shinji

Joint

Shinji.

An idea shot into her by now completely baked mind. A large shit eating grin came onto her face. She picked up the joint and lit it. She then brought it to her lips and inhaled as she brought her Zippo to it.

She held it in before opening her mouth and forming an O and blew a smoke ring in Shinji's face. She then reached out and offered it to him before speaking.

"Shinji I want you to try this." She said seriously.

Shinji looked at her like she was smoking crack. "Isn't smoking bad for you?" he said confused as to why she would offer him a cigarette.

"This isn't a cigarette Shinji its a joint , a cigarette with marijuana in it , now before you say anything it is not illegal and has been proven to help people with various physical as well as mental conditions. I think it might help you with what your going through right now."

Ritsuko had to admit the boy had really stepped up to the plate. He literally has the weight of the world on his shoulders . Reluctant at first , but he had adapted and survived as well as taking the mantle as one of the protectors of the world.

Shinji looked away at that. Lately he just felt uncomfortable around other people. He also had some trouble getting to sleep .He didn't really have any outgoing hobbies so he was by himself all the time. It really was starting to get to him.

The pros and cons bounced around in his head. He shrugged and took it from her.

"Now you have to hold it in for a while before blowing it out." She advised.

Shinji nodded as he brought the lit joint to his lips. He inhaled deeply, trying not to cough. He held it in for a little while before he was forced to let it out as he started coughing slightly. "That wasn't too bad." He said out loud, feeling his body numb slightly.

"Told you so , take another hit." She said urging him. She was curious to the out come. If she was right this could really help Shinji emotionally, and maybe get him to loosen up hopefully.

He took another hit as he felt his body relax as he slouched in the chair. He passed the joint back to Ritsuko.

They passed it back and forth, talking to each other about mundane things like school and just generally how things were going with Shinji. To Ritsuko's surprise he opened up and put things quite bluntly to say the least.

"I mean what did I do for her to be such a royal bitch to me. I mean god damn she slaps me in the face for shit I didn't even do on a daily basis.

I swear to god one of these days im going to pull that stick out of her ass and beat her with it." He said as he took a hit from the rapidly disintegrating joint .

They looked at each other , and busted out laughing at Shinji's ranting. They both wiped their eyes of tears.

Shinji felt great . He was getting a lot of stuff of his chest and it really released some weight off of his shoulders, and he felt tingly all over.

Ristuko put out the joint now turned roach after taking one last hit . "Well that's all she wrote." She said.

"That's ok I had a good time anyway." He said getting up. "Thanks for hanging out with me like this." He said sincerely.

"It was no problem." She replied. She had liked the results of their little sessions. Shinji seemed more at ease, and calm. Another marijuana induced idea entered her head.

"Hey Shinji how about you wait for me at my car and I'll drive you home, it is pretty late." Shinji nodded as he left to go to Ritsuko's car , he had gotten a few rides from her before. As he left Ritsuko got to work on her idea.

…..

Shinji was walking down the halls of NERV high as a kite everything seemed so...interesting and more defined to him.

His eyes were squinted and bloodshot. His posture straight yet relaxed. He smacked the inside of his mouth as he was really thirsty.

He walked by a drink machine and then walked backwards until he was in front of it. He put in his money into the machine and selected a Sprite. He picked it up from the dispenser and ripped the cap off and began taking big gulps of it before stopping to release a vibrating belch worthy of a god.

"Excuse me." He said chuckling slightly before continuing his way to Ritsuko's car , sipping his beverage along the way.

…...

He made it to Ritsuko's red Mazda 6. He didn't have to wait long as Ritsuko walked out of an opening elevator with her white lab coat still on. She had a medium sized black box with a blow bow on it.

"Boy do you look stoned." She said as she walked up to him.

"What?" He replied with a silly grin plastered on his face.

"Just get in the car" She said with a small smile.

"Are you ok to drive?" He said concerned about her well being.

"Pffft please I've been doing this for a while , plus there's not many people on the street this time of night anyway." She replied

As they got in the car she handed the box to Shinji. She nodded for him to open it as he looked her in the eye.

He opened the box to see several objects. He saw a black Zippo that Ritsuko had bought on a whim. Along with that was fluid for said Zippo, a large pill bottle of joints, eye drops, and finally a new Ipod touch.

He couldn't believe it he looked up to see a smiling Ritsuko.

"Consider it a late birthday present. Plus I thought you needed to replace your SDAT they don't make new music and that format anymore." She said as she started the car and pulled out of her spot.

The car ride home was relaxed. The radio was turned off and Ritsuko had the windows down, It was all very relaxing for Shinji. He laid his head against the head rest as the wind whipped through his hair.

Ritsuko couldn't help but think how handsome he looked when he was relaxed. _'Seems like the experiment was a success. With any luck he can start to have a more positive outlook on things and actually start living for once.'_

She thought to herself. She thought of the possibility of Gendou interfering , but she knew anything outside of Shinji piloting he didn't much care for , so that base was covered.

Pretty soon they made it to his flat. "Now put that box on the top shelf in your closet , and if your going to smoke in your room open up your windows and burn some inscence , and if you need anymore just call." She said with a smile.

Shinji looked at her. He had a strange feeling in his chest. It was unfamiliar to say the least. No one really took the time out to advise him or really pay any attention to him in general.

Without warning he reached across the middle console of the care and enveloped Ritsuko in a hug.

"Thank you." He said.

Ritsuko was surprised. She would have never expected Shinji to be so open with his feelings. _'This may come out better than I thought.' _She just needed to write a prescription so he didn't get in any trouble , just because it was legal doesn't mean it doesn't have rules along with it.

"Anytime." She replied as she returned the hug.

He then got out of the car and waved Ritsuko off as she drove to her own flat.

He then slowly made his way into his own home. He closed the door very softly as to not wake the volatile females that dwelled within. He slipped his shoes off and snuck into his room.

He left the lights off and walked up to his desk where his laptop was charging. He sat the box next to the computer and sat down as he turned it on. He unwrapped his new ipod and hooked it up to his computer.

Not many people knew this but Shinji had an extensive library of music. He just no had way of taking it with him since he only had an SDAT. He then synced his ipod , filling it with musicy goodness. He then got up and placed the box in his top shelf in his closet as Ritsuko had advised.

He then changed into a wife beater with some basketball shorts that he had gotten since arriving at Tokyo -3. He wrapped him self in the warm comfortable covers of his bed , almost instantly falling asleep.

…...

Well Shinji's a pot head now , what shall happen now while he is under the influence of the sticky herb. Only way to find out is to read the next chapter.

Please Review!


	2. HIGH school

**Well I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this. I felt I should take some time now to explain some details unknown about the story. Shinji's 16 in this story , and it's after the Angel Wars, but Shinji, Auska, and Rei survived. Gendo wasn't charged with anything, because due to Fuyutski's efforts, he sabotaged SEELE's plan. I think that's about it unless you have any other questions, which you can om to me and I will be glad to answer!**

**I do not own anything!**

**(A/N; Music will be needed for this fic , so look for the song titles in parenthesis if you want to enjoy the tunes.)**

Shinji was sleeping peacefully in his bed for the first time in a long time when he's woken up by a loud banging on his door.

"What the fuck!" Shinji said, irritated by the offending noise. He looked at the red angry numbers on his alarm clock and saw it was 6:08am. _'It's not even time for me to get up yet!' _He thought to himself.

He threw the covers off of him and leapt to his feet in a frustrated grunt. He then slid the door open roughly to reveal the grimacing face of Auska Langley Sohryu.

"Baka Shinji! Get off your arse and make me breakfast, " she said yelling snobbishly in his face.

Shinji was still feeling the effects of his smoke out with Ritsuko, so his words left his mouth before he could catch himself.

"Ok first of all, it's not even fucking light out and your bothering me about some shit you could do yourself. It's not even my turn to cook. Shit, it's not even time for me to get up yet! I mean what the fuck are you doing here?" Shinji said, plowing into the girl like a verbal porn star.

The girl's eye was twitching and mouth agape. She stayed silent as the realization of what he said had hit him and his eyes widened.

He quickly slammed the door in the girl's face before she could attack like the rabid dog that she was.

There was only one thought in Auska's head '_He did not...' _ Her anger quickly caught up with her and she started bashing on the door with her hands.

"Ikari you get the fuck out here!" She said as she delivered a viscous right hook on the poor privacy device.

"Fuck that!" Shinji said surprising himself as he held the door closed. He could feel a fraction of the impact through the door, making him panic slightly. But with new found courage he held on.

The banging stopped after 10 minutes straight. He heard Auska stalk off mumbling angrily.

"Man, what got into me this? "Shinji asked himself. He'd never stood up to Auska, and now it's as if his balls had dropped over night. But what could have made him do this?

Then the fogged memories of last night came rushing back

"Damn." He said simply as he saw the effects of Marijuanna. He replayed the situation in his mind. He really didn't react inappropriately. He treated Auska like she deserved to be treated. Like a human embodiment of the menstrual cycle that just so happenned to be retard strong.

He stood up and walked over to his computer opening up his music player as he did so. He selected a song and went to his closet as the song Mastermind by Deltron 3030 filled his room. (Play it if you wish to enjoy this story!)

As mentioned before again, Shinji has a large music library.

He reached up and retrieved the black box off of his top shelf and placed it on his night stand, he reached over and with a flick of his wrist opened the locks on the top and lifted up the lid, revealing a screen, and letting fresh air flow through the modestly sized window and into his room.

He sat down on his bed cross legged and opened the box and retrieved a joint and his newly acquired Zippo. He ran it over with a critical eye. It had a flaming nautical star emblazoned in great detail on the front in silver .He opened it up in astonishment as he heard it's famous click. He flicked the wheel and watched as a plume of flame came to life.

He brought it to the joint and inhaled deeply, allowing the smoke to burn its way through his throat and lungs. He held it in for a while before blowing it out through his nose.

It had amazed him how well he was able to smoke. He heard most people choked their first couple of times. _'Maybe it's genetic.' _He thought to himself. He dismissed the thought and took another hit.

The joint began to accumulate a large amount of ash so he dabbed it in a nearby coke can.

Smoke wafted around Shinji as he continued taking hits. He thought about what had been bothering him lately. Along with the shock of knowing he would be piloting a 40 meter tall robot, he knew he wouldn't be able to get his dad to accept him.

So he wasn't piloting to get that, as that was a wrong reason to pilot. He did it to protect those around him. So that even if he wasn't accepted by everyone, he would prove that he was capable of doing amazing things. And as long as he had a few good friends he figured he could get by.

"Friends like Ritsuko." Shinji said out loud as he held the joint between his thumb and index finger. With this emotional improvement Shinji figured he better get ready for school.

He needed to leave before Auska anyway, and she was no doubt still sleeping at this early hour. Shinji stood up with the joint in his mouth and walked over to his closet.

He picked out his clothes for the day and smoked the joint hands free the whole time, breathing the smoke from his nostrils like a dragon.

As he neared the end of his joint he extinguished it in the half full can of coke. He then closed his window and replaced the box on his shelf in the closet and shut down his laptop thus ending the music.

(you can stop the song now)

Shinji followed up his wake and bake with a shower and his usual hygiene routine. He got dressed in the clothes he picked out earlier. His outfit consisted of Khaki cargo shorts and a white button up shirt with a black wife beater under it.

Shinji packed his bag as he still had 5 minutes before Auska woke up. He slung his backpack around his shoulders, and grabbed his I-pod as he made his way out the front door.

...

Auska turned over to shut off her alarm. She tossed the covers off of her body and walked out of her door. She was still brooding over what Shinji had said. _'The gal of that boy sometimes!' _She thought to herself.

She stopped the thought in its tracks as she found herself in front of the door of the aforementioned boy . She didn't even bother to knock as she pushed it open, only to find it was empty.

It was tidy and clean as usual but she could faintly smell something. She saw his window open and figured it came from outside.

"Where did that baka go!" She said in a low growl she looked in the bathroom. Nope empty.

"He left without me." She said as the realization hit her. "And he didn't make me breakfast!" She roared.

She wanted to shriek in frustration. She stomped off to her room to get ready in an attempt to catch up with him.

…...

Shinji was walking along listening to Number One Samurai by the Rza((Play it) .He had loved the anime Afro Samurai. The art was well done and was only matched by the storyline and music that was woven in with it.

Afro's character was interesting. He had seen the death of his own father, driving him to seek revenge. But in turn he knew no joy, no happiness, only sorrow, but even after knowing this is the path he was on. He walked on it repaving it with the bodies of those who would strike out at him. Inspirational in Shinji's opinion.

He put that thought aside for later.

He pulled 1 of the 2 joints out of his pocket. He had brought his Zippo as well, he figured they'd come in handy along with the bottle of eye drops Ritsuko given him. He liked smoking. It had been only a day and he didn't feel different from how he usually felt. In all actuality he felt...free for the lack of a better term. Whatever mental filter he had put unto himself was no match for the marijuana.

"I wonder if Ritsuko could give me different kinds." Shinji said thoughtfully. He knew that it was a plant so there's the possibility of there being different kinds and variations. He decided he'd ask her about it later.

He placed the joint in his mouth and with quick succession he lit the joint, taking deep intakes of breath to make sure it lit. There was no one out this early, so he enjoyed his early morning toke in relative silence.

He let out a plume of blue smoke as the music in his ear pulsated around his body. Like a waterfall of vibration. Shinji was, looking at the sunrise in front of him as he puffed on the ganja.

He stopped to really take in the beauty of it. The colors looked so much brighter to him now and much more diverse. He could hear some birds chattering away in the early morning air.

He welled with a sense of pride. "I'm the protector of all this." He said with the joint in his mouth. He let it stay there as he continued walking.

He chuckled as he let out another plume of smoke through his nose. He specifically remembers Afro doing the same thing when he smoked as well.

Shinji put the thought away and thought about how the day would go when he felt his phone started vibrating in his pocket.

He fished the small piece of plastic from his pocket. He flipped it open and answers with the joint still in his mouth.

"Tokyo–3 Morgue, you stab em we slab em." He said in an upbeat voice, as he stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change so he could pass.

"_Well aren't you full of sunshine this morning," _Ritsuko said on the other end. She had wanted to see the after math of her very hair brained scheme.

"Nope. I just happy," He said with his speech slightly muffled due to the joint still in his mouth.

Ritsuko could hear the muffle and she guessed what he was doing. _"I bet , having a wake and bake are we?"_

"What's that," Shinji said quizzically.

Ritsuko sighed, but remembered Shinji was still a newbie. _"It's where you get up early in the morning to smoke, at least that's what they used to call it back in my day." _She replied.

"Oh. well yeah. I figured why not, it is supposed to help me deal with shit. Plus Auska woke me up this morning. It was super fucking early and to top it off she had a bitch fit, so I basically flipped my shit at her and slammed the door in her face. Boy was she pissed." Shinji said as he took another hit, crossing a street as he did so.

His i-pod changed to Purple Swag by Asap Rocky. (Play it!)

Ritsuko had a look of surprise across her face. Shinji had been very loose with his words during yesterday's session, but now he seemed comfortable enough to express himself. Something he nearly was incapable of doing.

She then surmised that THC, the main ingredient in Marijuana, needed some time to work its way into his system, thus causing a more active result.

"_Well good for you. Where are you anyway?"_ She asked.

"I am on my way to school. Going to pick up some snacks and put some drops in my eyes, they feel really dry." He said.

Ritsuko chuckled. _"It's called chink eyes, they get red, glassy, and well squinty. You should be ok if you put drops in and keep a cool head."_

"Can do, oh and I was meaning to ask you. Is there any way I could try a different type of pot?" He said flicking the last of his joint away.

Ritsuko held the phone from her ear, and looked at it in surprise. She didn't think he'd take to it this well.

_'Well he really doesn't have any hobbies.' _ She thought to herself. _'On that note he doesn't have that many friends either. Maybe I should find him someone to hang out with.' _ She thought to herself. She wanted him to develop social skills that he lacked, not just be a lonely stoner .Then another idea came into mind. _'Two birds with one stone.' _She thought to herself.

"_Hmmm I might be able to help you out in that area."_

"What." He responded lazily the drug mellowing him out slightly.

"_I'll tell you after school." _She replied.

"Argggggg fine." He said slumping his shoulders. He hoped it was worth the waiting for whatever plan Ritsuko had up her sleeve.

She smirked at his reaction. She felt that Shinji was capable of handling himself, so she was not needed at the moment.

"_I'll talk to you later. I'll probably call you to check in on you at lunch, so make sure your phone is on."_

"Yeah, it'll be on." He said in an I'm-not-doing-a-godamned-thing tone of voice_._

Ritsuko chuckled. _"Ok Shinji, you take care now."_

"You too, bye," Shinji said as he closed his phone.

Ritsuko laid back in her chair with a lazy smile on her face. Her plan had seemingly worked. She picked up the phone and dialed another number.

The phone rang a couple of times before a suave voice answered.

"_Hello"_ Kaji said.

"Hey Kaji, it's Ritsuko I need a favor."

"_No Ritsuko I can't take you out to dinner tonight." _He replied in a tired voice.

"Not that you jackass!" She yelled into the phone. "Do you still have any of that weed we smoked back in college?" She had remembered Kaji having a pretty potent strain, as she could not recall the events of that night besides spending 200 dollars on McDonald's that very night.

"_Yeah why you looking for some?"_

"Not me, Shinji,"

Kaji almost let the phone slip from his hand. Shinji. Smoking weed? He thought he would sooner stand up to Auska than to smoke. If he only knew.

"_Shinji smokes now? Since when," _He replied frantically.

"Oh since yesterday when I prescribed it to him," she said in a calm voice as if there was nothing wrong with her idea.

Kaji almost sighed. _"Ristuko why in the hell would you give a 16 year old boy Marijuanna?"_

"Meh, probably because I was stoned when I thought it up," Kaji did sigh at that.

"But Kaji, there's something you should know before you pass judgment. I went over the pilots' most recent psych evaluations, and Shinji is starting to show signs of PTSD." She said, her tone turning serious.

Kaji had seen the effects of PTSD on older much stronger men than Shinji. He would not wish such a thing on a person. So he figured for Shinji to go on like that.

"_He must be under some real stress, ok I get that but why not prescribe him a pill or something?" _Kaji retorted.

"Well everything that could help him would mess his liver up. He hasn't been sleeping, eating, and he's lost a lot of weight. So I thought what the hell could we lose. It is legal and proven to help people of this condition. And knowing Gendo he wouldn't give a flying fuck as long as Shinji could pilot." She said bluntly.

Kaji inwardly agreed. Shinji was a good kid. He just needed to open up a little bit. He sighed.

"_What can I do," _He replied.

"Ok here's the plan."

…**...**

**So what does Ritsuko have in store for Shinji , and what does it have to do with Shinji , will Auska ever stop being a bitch? Tune in next time to find out!**


	3. A friendly visit

**I do not own anything!**

Shinji walked through the front gates of Tokyo 3 High school. There was a brick path leading to the main entrance that cut through a circular courtyard filled with bustling students.

Shinji finished his Gatorade and threw it in a nearby trashcan.

He continued walking surveying everybody who was around him,

_'Gotta remember what Ritsuko said and stay cool.' _Shinji thought to himself.

He relaxed and straightened his back out walking fluently, a look of indifference on his face. He turned his head to the left as he saw he had gained the attention of a small group of girls.

Feeling brave he smirked and winked at the group. The reaction was instantaneous as they blushed and looked away giggling. Shinji was surprised. He really didn't see himself as attractive so his interest in the opposite sex was pretty much 0.

He shrugged his shoulders and kept on walking. He soon made it into the main building. He looked at a clock mounted over a row of lockers. He had about 10 minutes to get to class. He smiled to himself.

_'Just enough time.' _Shinji thought to himself. He didn't really feel the need to rush. He was perfectly content with his own pace. He made his way to the stairs to get to class.

**DOD**

The classroom was bustling with talking students. Hikari was overlooking the class. There was relative peace in the room, due mostly to the fact that Touji and Kensuke had went away on some special trip to Okinawa to some museum to those who were interested.

It was basically a way to get away from school for a few days. On the other hand there was still Auska Sohryu, who was seething with her eyes ablaze with a furious rage. She had gotten Misato to drive her to school, which is why she arrived earlier to school.

It sent a chill down her spine when she saw it. _'What could have made her so mad?' _Hikari thought to herself.

Then as if on cue Shinji walked into the room. She noted that he looked …...relaxed. Usually he looked anxious and uncomfortable, but now... She then noticed his state of dress.

His hair had grown much longer since he first came to Tokyo-3. He had been dealing with more important matters, like fighting behemoth monsters that could literally send him flying with the flick of a wrist, so he hadn't been able to get a haircut.

She blushed as she saw his chest muscles under his wife beater, his Eva training and gym ventures toning his body to peak condition. She met his eyes with her own as they gazed at her from under his long bangs.

He smiled at her making her face heat up more before he walked to his desk. He could feel the eyes of his classmates gazing over his new taste in clothing. They were a bit confused to say the least. He was being so nonchalant.

Shinji dropped his bag on the floor next to his desk. He sat down and pulled out his I-pod to change the current song.

Shinji felt a gaze burning into his right side. He didn't even need to turn his head to tell that it was Auska, and by the way it felt she was pissed.

He continued to ignore the girl by pulling out his laptop and turning it on.

Auska was damn near foaming at the mouth at the audacity of the young Ikari.

Before she could attack the boy, the teacher walked in as the bell rang. Prompting Hikari to do the standard stand, bow, sit procedure.

Afterward, the teacher continued drawling on about how 2nd impact affected the world.

"_I wonder how he would feel if he found out that everything he's teaching is bullshit. Pretty pissed I'd bet," _Shinji thought to himself.

Shinji was interrupted from his scenario by his computer beeping, signaling that he had received an IM.

He hit next on his iPod (Play No One's Iller than me by Eminem) and continued to listen to his iPod as the teacher went on with his pointless lecture throughout the school day.

He had benn thinking of random ideas and other subjects. His mind was ablaze with his own individual thoughts. He wondered if he could get his Eva high. It was BIOmechanical.

He had been online when he got the IM. He was pretty much in his own world up until that point.

He opened it up to see that it was from Auska.

_'Fuck me running." _He thought to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose before reading the text.

Auska02: 'Your dead when we get home.'

Shinji01: 'For what.' He replied.

Auska02:' For leaving me and not making breakfast.' She furiously typed.

Shinji sighed before he replied.

Shinji01:' Auska I already told you it wasn't even my turn to cook. Even though we agreed on who cooks when. I always end up cooking, would it kill you to get off your fat ass make something for yourself for once?' Auska was messing with Shinji's mood. And he wasn't having it.

Auska almost slammed her fist into the computer._ 'When had the whelp grown a spine!' _She thought to herself.

Auska02: 'You are so in trouble after class.' She threatened.

Shinji was unaffected at the threat. Unknown to the people around him, Shinji was very high. Meaning that his reaction to said text was very downplayed.

Shinji tapped on his keyboard with one hand and quickly replied.

Shinji 01: 'Does it look like I give a fuck?' As soon as Auska read it the bell rang for lunch.

Shinji got up took out his ear buds, and packed up his things. He quickly blended into the crowd of cafeteria bound students, fluidly moving through packed hallways. He made his way to the stairs before Auska could even get out of the class room.

"Where the fucked did he go!" She growled to herself as she made it out of the classroom. She had shoved her way through, but when she arrived the boy was nowhere to be found.(End song now : ))

**DOD**

Shinji kicked the door to the roof open with gusto, making it slam against a nearby wall. He breathed in the air, and looked at the bright blue sky, oddly shaped clouds scattering its horizon. Shinji was glad his skills at losing Section 2 Agents had come in handy.

He wasn't running. He just wanted to get away from Auska's bitching.

As he sat down to take a slight breather, he felt his pocket vibrate. He pulled out his phone and looked at the caller id, it was Ritsuko.

He flipped it open and answered. "Hey Ritsuko."

"_He Shinji, hows your day going?"_

"Meh I feel ok I guess, just bored. All that man ever fucking talks about is 2nd impact. I swear it's agonizing the way he drones on in that monotone voice of his. He wouldn't know enunciation if it came up and stomped a mud hole in his back." Shinji replied.

Ritsuko chuckled at that. _"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but at least the day is pretty much over. Don't you just have gym left after lunch?"_

Shinji perked up at that. Through his weed haze he had completely forgotten. Shinji blamed the teacher's mind numbing lecture for that.

"Yeah I guess, it's still really boring though," Shinji replied.

"_Well do you have any of the joints I gave you?"_

Shinji's eyes widened at that. He had completely forgotten that he had brought more than one.

"Yeah I do but if I smoke at school and get caught won't I get into trouble?" He replied.

"_Well where are you?"_

"I'm on the roof. Auska was a bitch in class today so I told her off again and came up here." He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"_Hmmmm good job on that one, but back to your current situation. Since you're on the roof the air will carry away the smell, so you'll only have to wash your hands. Plus if you do get caught I already have your prescription so you can't really get into trouble." _She said effectively analyzing the situation.

"True. Well I don't see why not," Shinji seeing the woman's logic. If he really had too he would watch the door and throw his joint before they got through it.

"_Ok Shinji, I have to get back to work, I'll call you after school so you can get your surprise."_

"Bye." He said as he hung up the phone.

He slipped the joint out of his cargo paints pocket and sat against the wall next to the entrance door. The door if opened would face him, giving him time to throw his joint in an emergency situation.

He placed his lighter and joint in his lap as he selected a song and put his ear buds in. (El Manana by Gorillaz)

He picked up his joint and lighter. He quickly lit it and took a slow drag, tasting the quality of the smoke. He breathed out from his nose, blue smoke whisping in the mid-day sun.

To Shinji they were entrancing, and in a way made him feel like a bad ass. Shinji slowly smoked his joint enjoying the calm of the day, the occasional bird flying by.

Shinji was soon overcome by an overwhelming euphoria that made his whole body relax. He felt his back pop as he stretched out.

He took a bottle of water out of his bag that he had bought on the way to school. He opened it and took a long pull of the cool liquid, thus quenching his thirst.

He put it down and took a long drag. Holding it in as it burned his chest slightly. After what seemed like forever Shinji finally exhaled sending a stream of smoke out.

He then jumped out of the way as the door flew open , almost hitting him as he sat in his improvised smoke spot.

The door opened to reveal the one and only class reprisentative. Little did he know she had the ability to see the chat's that went on in the school's server , and she had been watching his conversation with Auska.

To say she was shocked was an understatement , she would sooner expect Touji to ask her out than for Shinji to actually stand up to Auska.

She wanted to know what had caused such a change in the boy's actions, so she decided when the bell rang she would ask him later. But before she could he had darted away, using the crowd to mask his route.

Luckily for her and unlike Auska , she knew where Shinji liked to hang out at lunch. She turned around to see Shinji holding what looked to be a cigarette,Shinji having dropped his water in surprise. Her face changed from an expression of confusion, to realization, and then to anger.

'Oh fuck.' He mouthed as he realized he hadn't thrown the joint away. He pulled out his earbuds as he steeled him self for the verbal ass chewing he was about to recieve.

"SHINJI IKARI, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!"She said in a loud authorotative tone of voice.

"I believe I was smoking a joint." Shinji simply replied as he took another inhale right in front of the infuriated class representative.

"Your'e doing drugs?" She then made a grab at the joint only to knock away its cherry as Shinji bent back slightly, right in the nick of time.

"Well that was just rude." He said as he took out his lighter and re-lit his joint, he took a deep inhale and breathed the smoke from his nose. His nostrils flaring slightly as they released a torrent of blue smoke. Shinji had always wondered why it was blue. Hikari was stupefied at Shinji's actions.

"Yes, but it's a legal one. Plus, I have a prescription for it, so cool your tits." He said as he walked past her while still smoking the joint leisurely.

She knew of the legalization of marijuanna, but not the effects and general knowledge about the drug itself. _'But why would he have a prescription for it.' _She thought.

She knew Shinji had some... issues, but how did having him smoke a drug make them better. In Hikari's mind , a drug should only be used in certain situations, and they HAD to be legal. Even Tylenol was suspicious to her.

"You shouldn't knock it until you try it you know." Shinji said as he took another hit.

She rounded on the boy. "I don't need to know because I don't do drugs." She said turning her face in what appeared to be disgust.

"I swear to god, all of the women I'm surrounded by are annoying." Shinji mumbled as he dragged his hand down his face.

Shinji looked at the disgusted Hikari with her face turned away from him. He then got an idea, as hair brained as Ritsuko's mind you, and broke out in a huge grin.

He took a long deep rip on the joint , filling his lungs to the brim with the narcotic. He then walked over to the girl tapping her shoulder as he reached her.

She turned her head to see Shinji smiling as he blew the smoke directly in her face , making her inhale in a surprised gasp. Shinji had blown enough smoke in her facial vicinity, and timed it in such a way that Hikari breathed it in.

She coughed as she tried to expel the smoke from her lungs. She then felt a tingling sensation flow through her body. She felt her muscles relax and she could feel the knots she had built up in her career as class rep disappear.

Shinji smiled as he saw the girls eyes slightly haze over.

Hikari's mind slowed down as she focused on the sensation flowing through her ,and forgot about Shinji's transgression.

_'Am i high?' _She thought to herself she knew she felt nice, but was this what weed did? Again, she didn't know the effects of Marijuanna, only the laws concerning them. So she was not aware that she had a slight buzz going on at the moment.

Shinji offered her the joint as she looked up. She looked curiously at the offered joint. She didn't feel bad, just more relaxed. Almost giddy even.

She put the decision behind her as she hesitantly took the joint from Shinji.

"Put it to you lips, inhale, hold it in for a little while, and then breath it out." He said, giving the stoner virgin instructions.

She nodded as she brought it to her lips. Hikari resisted the urged to cough as she felt the hot smoke travel down her trachea, and into her lungs.

When she thought she had enough , she stopped inhaling and held it in for about 6 seconds before letting it out. She felt her head swim as the colors of the day became more vibrant and alive.

Her face broke out into a small smile as she took another hit. _'I guess it's not that bad , and he did say he had a prescription for it , so it IS legal.' _She thought as she blew smoke out of her mouth , passing it back to Shinji.

She giggled a bit as he looked at her. He could see her eyes were getting low and slightly around the edges. He reached into his pocket and threw her his eye drops.

"Red eyes are a dead give away that your high , it's one of the effects unfortunately." He spoke. Ritsuko had given him some basic need to know stoner knowledge, the rest he had to learn on his own.

He took a deep hit and passed it back to Hikari , after she put the drops in her eyes..

"So how do you feel?" He asked as she took a hit.

She held in the smoke a bit longer this time as she thought about it. She blew it out and spoke. "I guess I feel ok, I mean everything seems so much more... interesting." She said in a dazed tone of voice.

"Yeah, it can do that, my theory is that it increases the sensitivity of our senses." He said stubbing the joint out for later.

"Well, your welcome to join me for lunch, I'm pretty sure your hungry."

Now that he mentioned it , Hikari did feel a little peckish. "Naw I don't want to impose anymore than I already have , plus I still have my duties." She replied. "But I was wondering... is it possible for me to get some kind of prescription?" She said hesitantly.

Shinji was floored at that. He didn't think the uptight class rep would take to it , much less ask to partake in the future.

"Well Ritsuko wrote my prescription , but I would think it would need to come from your own physician, but I can ask." He replied

"Oh" She said dejectedly knowing her parents wouldn't allow it

Shinji heard the hurt in her voice. "Well I'll tell you what, you can smoke with me if you can keep people off the roof top." If he had her, the chance of more people finding out would be kept to a minimum.

She perked up at that. "Of course , I could probably tell them it's off limits due to matenience or something." She said with a wave of her hand.

"Anyway, I have to get going, see you in gym Shinji." She replied in a cheery voice. She felt this would be the start of a new friendship. She wasn't interested in Shinji romantically per say. It was more she got tired of Auska's bitching.

As Hikari left, Shinji sat down to have his small store-brought lunch.

**DOD**

Shinji had finished his small lunch and made it to gym in time to change and fall into line for roll call. It seemed today that both the girls and the boys were going to be in the weight room for the day.

On the inside Shinji was overjoyed. Also unknown to but a few people, Shinji worked out regularly. He felt his chance of surviving would be better.

He was near the entrance in blue basketball shorts and a simple white t shirt with his running shoes. He had left all of his belongings in his locker, where he deemed them safe.

He went over to the bench press and sat down. He did some warm ups with his arms by doing various stretches. He then stood up and started placing weight on the bar.

He placed about 125 pounds on the bar. He then got into position and cleared his mind in order to focus at the task at hand. He lined his hands up accordingly and lifted the bar off of its rack. He then slowly brought it down near his chest before pushing it back up, and continued to repeat the action.

Little did he know, Hikari was looking at him as she spotted Auska on the bench press. She was still feeling relaxed and tingly.

His face was in a mask of determination, and the way she could see his muscles flex under his shirt. He sat up before waving at her with a smile. She looked away, feeling her face getting flustered.

"Are you ok Hikari? Your face is all red." Auska said from under the bar.

"Yeah I'm fine." _'And so is Shinji'_ She thought to herself. She was surprised as usual such thoughts were in the back of her head.

Shinji continued doing various exercises, all of his movements determined and fluid. Using the correct form to direct the muscles to contract, thus better results for his work out.

He had a few girls from class staring at him as he was doing chin ups. He saw them whispering to each other , and feeling confident he put one arm behind his back and continued doing pull ups as he turned his head around winking at the group. Receiving a small applause in return.

_'When did he get so strong?'_ Auska thought to herself. When since she first met Shinji he was always on the scrawny side , but now she could see defined muscle rippling under the skin of his lean but muscular frame.

She had to admit despite his size he was lifting a considerable amount of weight and the look of determination on his face. She had never seen it before.

Shinji let go of the bar and dropped to the floor. He stood straight up and rubbed his hands. At this time the bell rung signaling school was over.

Shinji went to get water as the other students filed out to the locker rooms to change. As he bent down and pressed the button on the fountain, it malfunctioned and spilled water all over his shirt.

He jumped back as the cold water came into contact with his warm torso. He pulled the shirt off and used the dry portion of the shirt to get the water off of him.

He made a right turn into the boy's locker room. He looked up to see the girl portion of the class staring at him, some with looks of lust and wonder, and it took him a second to realize he was shirtless.

"Fuck me." He said out loud.

"Gladly!" One girl yelled from the back of the group making Shinji blanch in return.

"I think I'll just get out of here." Shinji then turned to leave.

"Wow he was really hiding under that shirt." Hikari spoke thoughtlessly.

"Hikari!" Auska screeched.

"What it's true!"She said, not having any mental filter up to watch what she spoke.

**D.O.D**

After his embarrassing moment and getting to the right room, Shinji had finished changing and managed to evade Auska as well. He walked out the front gate to see Kaji smoking a cigarette while leaning on a black sting ray corvette.

"Hey Shinji. How's it going," he said with an all knowing smile. Even though Shinji had been generous with his drops. Kaji knew that glossed over look anywhere. Shinji was still baked.

"Not much really, just glad that school is finally over." He responded without a beat. He felt comfortable enough around Kaji to converse with him without much difficulty.

"I see ,well Ritsuko sent me over to get you. She said something about a surprise." Kaji said trying to subtly tell the boy what was to come.

Shinji heartbeat quickened as he looked into his eyes. Did Kaji know that he smoked? Shinji's mind was frantically looking for answers. That was until he remembered Ritsuko say that it was legal, and he did have a prescription from a certified doctor.

His only real problem was the risk of him telling Misato. He wanted to keep a lid on his new hobby, he didn't know why but he felt that she wouldn't approve. But he doubted Ritsuko would purposely want to get him busted, so he relaxed where he stood.

"Don't worry kid I'm not here to lecture you on your new 'hobby' if that's what you think." Kaji said thus easing the boy's worry. "Come on, we should get going." He said as he got into his car.

Shinji let the air he had been holding for some time now as he got into the passenger side. Kaji turned his key and the V8 engine roared to life. He pulled out from in front of the school and headed to NERV's general direction.

The two were quiet, with Kaji observing Shinji in his high state of mind. To the spy's surprise his whole demeanor was one of relaxation, one of peace as he looked out the open window with a small twinkle in his eye that had not been there before.

"So you seem like your enjoying your new treatment," He said breaking the silence.

"You sound surprised, to tell you the truth, so am I. I wouldn't have thought that something like this could be so eye opening, or fun for that matter." Shinji replied with a mischievous grin.

"Glad to hear it." Kaji replied. He looked away from the road, sensing movement in his peripheral vision. He turned his head to see Shinji with half a joint in his mouth, and what appeared to be a zippo in his other hand.

He watched on as Shinji flicked the lighter open and lit the joint in quick succession in one fluid movement. Once again Kaji was surprised. The boy seemed more confident to say the least. _'Maybe Ritsuko wasn't that high when she thought this up.' _He thought to himself.

Kaji then hit a button on the side paneling of his door, making both windows roll up. Shinji turned to look at Kaji questioningly.

"It's called a hot box. It's where you smoke in a car with the windows up, or a closed space. Now puff puff pass." He said.

Shinji smirked and passed it to kaji. He then watched as Kaji, with one hand still on the wheel, took a deep breath, making the cherry burn red hot. He then slowly let the smoke escape from his mouth. Shinji was in awe as smoke floated from his mouth in ghost like manner.

Kaji blew the rest from his lungs before taking another hit. Only this time he let the smoke escape in a thick cloud from his mouth before sucking it back in , much to Shinji's entertainment.

"That's called a ghost hit." He said as he expelled the rest of the smoke from his lungs and passed the joint to Shinji. He then turned on the radio to add music to said smoke session. (Animals-House of the rising sun)

Shinji took the offered joint. He took a deep inhale of smoke gathering it in his mouth, trying to recreate Kaji's trick. He then slowly let the smoke out, revealing a milky cloud of smoke before he inhaled it back into his lungs.

Kaji was impressed. It seemed Shinji had taken to smoking very well. He also thought it had to do with his pilot status.

When piloting the Eva they had to focus on movements and recreate them from sight and feeling. So in essence Shinji has a copycat talent of sorts.

Smoke filled the cab of the car, making it look like a small fire had started. They drove along listening to tunes and passing the joint back and forth.

**D.O.D**

The pot smoking duo soon made it to NERV. They had left Kaji's car, and Kaji had lead Shinji to his watermelon patch.

Shinji was confused as to what they were doing in Kaji's mellon patch in the geofront. He had to admit it was much more realistic up close , or it was his senses were hieghtened by the weed..._.'Yup it was the weed.'_ He thought to himself.

He looked around Kaji's melon patch. It had about 5 rows with 8 melons each. But on the far left side he saw tall bush like trees standing at about 4 ft.

Kaji walked over to a worn wooden trunk. He opened it up to reveal a blanket , a small cache of rum, cigarettes and cigars, a cutting board, some circular metal object the size of a compass, and a 7 inch switch blade with an ebony handle.

Kaji pulled out the blanket and set it down on the ground he then sat down on it after retrieving a few more items from the trunk. Shinji sat down next to him and watched as the man set to work with his items.

He flicked the switch blade open with a mere click , and took a single cigar and cut it down the middle. He then set the knife down on the blanket as he emptied out the cigar of it's tobacco contents.

He then set the wrap down on the ground (The cigar paper.). He got up and walked over to the bush like tress Shinji mentioned earlier.

He reached in and plucked out what looked like a thick oddly shaped green mass. It was slightly fuzzy, addorned with dark red hairs and white crystals along it's surface.

Realization set in as Shinji understood what it was. "You grow your own weed here? In the Geofront!" Shinji exclaimed.

"Yeah, I mean why not. The weather conditions here are perfect for producing a potent strain such as this." He said as he sat back down near the pot smoking youth.

"So what kind is this?" Shinji inquired as he saw Kaji cut away what he infered to be the good parts of the plant.

"This Shinji is called Sour Diesel. You'll know why after we smoke this. Now let's teach you how to roll a blunt. First you need your weed of course, then you need your wrap , this can be either rolling papers or the paper from cigars.

The only difference being that cigar wraps are harsher on the lungs , but are way more potent due to the amount smoked at once."

Shinji knodded as Kaji opened up the circular objext revealing it had sharpened tips on the inside of both the bottom of the cover, and on the bottom of the container.

"This is a a grinder." He said placing the bud like substance in the teethed container. "It really helps when you don't want to break your stuff up by hand." He said as he twisted the two peices of metal , a grinding noise created by the motion.

He then emptied the now powdery substance on the cutting board. He picked the blade back up and used itt's sharp edge to line it up and place it onto the flat cigar paper. He then proceeded to roll a fat blunt, Shinji was foaming at the mouth as he saw Kaji's creation.

Kaji then handed it to him. He looked at him as Kaji nodded at the unasked question. Shinji then pulled out his lighter causing Kaji to smirk. "So I see Ritsuko gave you her old lighter." Kaji said as Shinji puffed on the weed cigar.

Smoke hazing out of his mouth lazily, he looked at the man in surprise before looking back at the lighter. It looked relatively new , but it had a scratch here in there. "So Ritsuko smoked in college too?" He said putting a peice of the puzzle together.

"Oh yeah, when she wasn't studying or writing a paper she was blazing up in my dorm room. Oh my god we spent so much on food that year." He said as he took the blunt from Shinji. He took a deep toke as Shinji spoke.

"So did Misato smoke?" He asked hesitantly. If Misato smoked back then , then maybe she would be cool with him enough to let him do it without sneaking around.

"Nope, she preferred her liqour, couldn't tell you why though honestly." He said taking another deep toke before passing it back to Shinji.

Shinji sighed inwardly, but put it into the back of his mind. He took a hit. "So Kaji why is it when I smoke joints the smoke is blue , but when I smoke this it's white?" Shinji asked.

"That's because one, there are different methods of smoking , and two, there are different kinds of weed. Sometimes the color of the smoke can depend on the strain." Kaji said in a expert tone of voice.

"I see, so hows the old man." Shinji said as he looked at the artificial sun , taking a hit as he did so. He knew his father didn't want anything to do with him in a maternal aspect, but that didn't mean he couldn't check on the bastard.

"Still the bastard king of NERV as always." He replied as Shinji handed him the blunt, slowly dwindling. Kaji was surprised Shinji wasn't more emotionally scarred with Gendo Ikari as a father.

Shinji was indifferent to his answer, face firm as stone, still gazing at the sky. Shinji felt like his skelton was melting into hot streams in a physical incarnation of mellow. He felt detached from his current situation, yet in view of it. In short he was stonned off his ass.

"So how's life Shinji." Kaji asked. Now that he had Shinji all loosened up.

"It's ok , finally told Auska off , and I'm coming to terms with a few things that've been bothering me." He replied, opening up to Kaji slightly.

"How did you tell Auska off?" Kaji said as he handed the blunt back to Shinji.

Shinji retold the story to Kaji as he took hits inbetween Sentences.

"-and then I (Hit) asked her if I gave a fuck." He finished as Kaji looked at him with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Kaji began snickering before he exploded in laughter, prompting Shinji to join in.

They wiped the tears from their eyes. "Hey Shinji , snuff that out so you can have a little for tonight." He said lighting up a cigarette.

"Thanks Kaji." he said stuffing it in his pocket. He got up and dusted himself off. Kaji folded up the blanket and placed t he rest of the items back in the chest , all except one.

"Hey Shinji, catch."

Shinji looked up to catch a long skinny object. It was Kaji's switch blade, he looked a the man in shock.

"I figure if Ritsuko can give you something, so can I." He replied before taking a drag on his cigarette. He wanted to pass down something to the boy too, and he had a knife like that when he was around his age, so he didn't see the harm.

Shinji's eyes shined as he broke out in a smile. He put it in his front left pocket and followed Kaji as they made their exit.

**D.O.D**

Kaji had given Shinji a lift back to his house. We now find him in his room, emptying his pockets. He then found a sheet of folded up paper. He read it up as he read it.

_'Dear Shinji,_

_I just wanted to let you know that despite what you think , you aren't alone. If you ever need a place to think, you are always free to take a little visit to the melon patch, just clean up after yourself. Also try to handle yourself better around Auska, it would be better to be at least on good terms with her as I too can understand how much of a pain in the ass she can be, so trust me when i say this. Anyway good luck and my phone is always open if you need a toking buddy or an ear."_

_-Kaji._

He smirked at the note."Wait when did he have time to write a fucking note?" He said very confused.

"Shinji? Are you home?" Misato yelled.

Shinji silently cursed as he shoved his pockets' contents into his nightstand drawer. He turned around to face misato who had a worried expression on her face.

"Where have you been Shinji?"She said in a worried tone of voice.

"Oh I was just talking to Kaji, he gave me a ride home." Shinji said as he unbuttoned his white school shirt , leaving him in his cargo shorts.

Misato looked at his apparel. "SO, trying new things I see."

"Yeah I thought I'd branch out a little. So where's the bitch?" Shinji said unpacking his laptop and placing it on his desk.

Misato cocked her head to the side as she heard Shinji's words. "Wow, did your balls drop overnight?"

"You know, I asked myself that same question today." He shot back without missing a beat.

"Well she called and told me she was staying with Hikari for the weekend. She sounded pretty pissed. You know why?"

"Nope." He said with indifference as he got online.

Misato stared at Shinji's back as he checked his email. He looked weird, it was as if... it was as if he was acting like a normal teenager. She decided to investigate later.

"Ok well I'll leave you be." She said walking out of the room.

Shinji smirked as she left. With Auska gone and Misato at work in the day , he knew exactly what he was doing for his weekend...

…...

Review PLZ!


	4. The Weekend Part 1

**Author A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post I have been held up with school, but I hope to make more updates more frequently.**

**Disclamer; I do not own Evangelion or it's characters.**

Light streamed in through the closed blinds of Shinji Ikari's window. The birds were chirping , and sounds of traffic bustling nearby filled the boy's room as the city's occupants made their morning commute to work.

The boy in question was sound asleep, blissfully ignorant of his environment. Half of his body was draped over the side of the bed wildly, and covers where strewn everywhere.

Suddenly the loud noise of a jackhammer filled the air as construction was being done on the street adjacent to Shinji's complex. The boy fell off of his bed as he jerked out of reflex , making him awake from his peaceful slumber.

"The fuck?" He said sleepily as he righted himself by leaning up against the frame of his bed , rubbing his head as he did so. The noise continues as it was joined by the beeping of a truck that was backing up.

His brain started firing it's cylinders slowly , as Shinji looked at his clock; it was only 8:30am. He was about to panic as he realized how late he had slept in when he remembered it was Saturday.

"Phew , that was close. I wonder if Misato is home." He said as he stood up, popping his back as he did so. He ran a hand through his ever-growing mane of hair. He had wanted to get it cut before , but now he thought it added a wild edge to his character.

He plodded through the apartment, his bare feet making light thumping sounds on the floor as he did so. It was completely silent despite the construction outside.

The coast was indeed clear as he walked through the apartment. He knew Auska was staying with Hikari , thank god, and Misato had already left for work and wouldn't be back till later on tonight. His face broke out into a wide grin as the facts were laid out before him.

It was Saturday.

No one was home.

And he had plenty of weed.

He almost laughed out loud but managed to hold it in. He then turned on his heel and made it back to his room. He went to his desk where his laptop was stationed. He disconnected the cord from the side and picked it up.

Next, he went to his night stand, and opened the drawer. He grabbed his joints , lighter and his switch blade.

_'Never can be too safe.' _He thought to himself. He had been trained in hand to hand combat and short ranged weapons such as knives to increase his ability to use the prog knife, so he could wield a blade fairly well.

He then exited his room and made his way to the balcony, stopping to feed Pen-Pen .He walked through the glass sliding door that led to the balcony dropped his cargo down on the patio table that was placed outside.

He moved a chair that was on the far side of the balcony parallel to the patio table. The floor that Misato lived on was fairly high up , giving Shinji an ample view of Tokyo 3. He saw early morning commuters, the lush green hills that framed the sun as it rose, and finally a wide set view of the deep blue sky above.

Shinji gazed at the sight with a small heat in his chest.

With his sentimental moment of the day over, Shinji plopped down into his chair and opened his laptop.

He opened his Music player with a few deft moves of his hand and started scrolling through his library, looking for a song suitable for his smoking pleasure.(You know the drill. MGMT-Weekend Wars).

Shinji then reached over and grabbed his lighter and his joint with his right hand. He brought his hand near his mouth and grabbed it with his lips. He then flicked his zippo open and lit the joint, creating a red hit cherry.

He took deep hits , smoke drafting around him as the sunlight's rays hit his being. Shinji nestled himself into his chair, ready to enjoy his trip.

That was until he felt his pocket vibrate...

"What in the hell? "Shinji said as he reached into his shorts pockets. He pulled his hand out revealing his phone.

"Hmmmm must have went to sleep with it in there." He said thoughtfully. He vaguely remembered texting Ritsuko for a while as he smoked in his bed before he went to sleep.

He turned the volume down on his laptop and flipped his phone open.

"Hello." He answered as he took another toke.

"Baka Shinji!" An irate voice yelled out of the phones small speaker, despite its size. "You need to learn to answer your phone faster." She said as if he was a pet that had disobeyed his master.

"And you need to learn how to not be a bitch all the time." He replied as he blew a plume of smoke from his nose.

Auska almost crushed the phone to small, cheap plastic bits. There it was again..Shinji had yet again defied her, and bluntly so.

"Oh you are so dead when I get home 3rd." She said in a low growl.

Shinji dabbed his ash onto the concrete below with a careless flick of his finger. "Whatever, you seem to fail to forget the simple fact that I don not care. Now if you'll excuse me I have a weekend to enjoy with out that gaping hole that seems to have the ability to spew an immense amount of bullshit that you just so happen to call a mouth. Ta ta now." He then clapped the phone shut.

Auska was flabbergasted as she stared at the phone.

"Are you ok Auska?" Hikari asked as she walked next to her gaping friend. Little did Shinji know that Auska and Hikari were both on their way to his current location , and were just down the street.

Auska answered by quickening her pace.

_'uh oh Shinji must have pissed her off.'_ Hikari thought to herself. She hoped Shinji was ready to fend for himself if the occasion called for it.

She then remembered how casually he handled himself yesterday and the rooftop incident from yesterday entered her mind. She enjoyed it far more than she thought she would, which was strange because she mostly heard negative things about the plant. She figured she'd ask Shinji about it later.

"If Auska doesent kill him first that is." She muttered to herself as she quickened her pace to catch up with Auska.

**DOD...**

Shinji was still toking away. He had just finished his first joint and had just lit his second. Smoking leisurely as he saw a flock of birds fly by.

He then heard the familiar sound of a door being brutally slammed. He knew who had done it by the sound alone. He sighed as he knew what was about to happen.

"SHINJI!" Auska bellowed.

"It is to early in the morning for this shit." He said as he got up from his perch and put out his joint on the concrete under his feet. He grabbed everything on the table and put the items into his pockets, leaving only his laptop.

Once again a look of indifference was plastered on his face as he picked up his laptop and went inside. He was greeted with the sight of Hikari sitting at the kitchen table. She was wearing sandals with a white skirt as well as a blue shirt. It looked nice on her in Shinji's opinion

"Hey Hikari." He said as he walked by making his way to his room.

"Hey Shinji, I would be careful about going in there if I were you." She said. She knew he had been smoking outside from the loud scent, but she didn't know how much of a secret he wanted to keep it. So she just gave him a heads up so he could at least be able to have the option of covering his ass.

"Please, I have to live with this." He said stressing the word 'live'. "I think I can handle her." He replied as he opened his door.

"Fuck!" He said as he almost bent back to a 90 degree angle to avoid the hand that had lashed out of his room.

He bent himself up to a straight position and looked at the owner of said offending hand.

"Damn I didn't know you missed me that bad." He said with a smirk.

"Get over here so I can wipe that smirk off you face." She replied.

"How about no, actually make that hell no. I've got better things to do than to screw around with you all day." He shot back as he walked around her. He placed his laptop on his desk and went into his closet.

As he had walked around her a scent had made it's way into Auska's nostrils. It was loud and almost citrus like? Shinji came out of his closet in black cargo shorts and black sneakers with no shirt. He walked over to his dresser and started to look for a shirt.

The sun filtered in through his blinds, she looked at his toned physique. Tracing the lines of his biceps, to his pectoral muscles...

She was broken out of her trance when the smell hit her once again. "What the hell is that smell?" She sniffing in the air. It smelled slightly like smoke , but again the smell and intensity of it was different.

"It's my new cologne, it's called the green beast." He said without looking up at the girl.

Shinji showed no fear of Auska figuring it out. He was too high to care , and he liked it that way. He liked the feeling of not having to worry about anything and everything constantly .He knew if she found out all she would do is tell Misato, which would be bad if he didn't have both Ritsuko and Kaji supporting him.

He knew Ritsuko was her voice of reason , and Kaji...well he was her something that was for sure.

"Green beast? Sounds cheap." She replied

He slipped on a white T shirt, and turned around to look at Auska. "Ok what the hell are you still doing in my room?" He asked.

"I can be wherever I please third." She said stomping her foot and sticking her nose high into the air in her famous I am better than you pose.

"Ok then well I'll just go outside then." He said with a grunt as he pushed his way past the red head.

"And for the last god damned time my name is Shinji, try not to wear it out will you." He shot over his shoulder as he walked out of earshot as the girl screamed in frustration at the boys new tenacity.

"Well that's one annoyance out of the day right Hikari?" He said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Wow , I'm not sure ive seen her that angry before." Hikari said in awe as she heard the scream.

"Meh it's usual around here. I wish that girl came with an off switch sometimes or some batteries." He said in a pondering tone of voice.

"Anyway , im going outside. Would you like to join me?" He said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Hikari was confused at first , but quickly caught on as she figured out what he was referring to.

"Wouldn't it be bad if Auska caught us?"

"Naw, she's probably in her room brooding , or going on about how great of a pilot she is." He said without missing a beat, clearly the effect of his smoke session.

"On top of that remember I do have a prescription for the stuff." He said trying to ease the girls apprehension. He wasn't pressuring her to smoke, he was simply making her more comfortable with the idea. The decision was hers alone to make.

"But what if Auska tells Misato? She is your guardian after all."

Shinji had thought about that possibility as well and again replied without hesitation. "Prior to popular belief , she's my guardian not my mom. I have put up with so much shit since I came to this city and started piloting, and it's taken it's toll.

I'm not smoking to just get high Hikari. I do it so I don't have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, or wanting to dive for cover when I hear a loud noise. If Misato can't understand that then I can get a transfer and live on my own." He said baring a bit of himself to the young woman before him.

Hikari felt her heart go out to the boy. She could clearly see the difference between sober Shinji and high Shinji. High Shinji seemed to speak his mind with steel laced in his words. He didn't look as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, rather he looked like he could handle it.

She got up from her chair and walked over to Shinji. "Lead the way." She said with a smile and gesture of her hand.

Shinji stepped through the sliding glass door and onto the patio. He reached over and pulled another chair from the side, and placed it near his own. He sat down and pulled out his pill bottle of joints as Hikari sat down next to him.

He pulled out the one he had previously been smoking and deftly lit it, passing it to Hikari when it had a nice enough cherry.

The girl took the offered narcotic and hesitantly took a small toke, still trying to test her limits so she didn't cough.

After a few experimental tokes, she passed it back to Shinji as she felt a slight buzz flow through her body.

"It's a nice day out." She said as she breathed the smoke out, coughing only slightly.

"You know I was thinking the exact same thing earlier." He said as he put the joint to his lips.

"So how did your doctor think it would be a good idea to give you pot as medication?" She asked, the pot loosening her tongue slightly.

Shinji took another hit before answering. "Well I guess she's had personal experience with herself , so I guess she thought it would I don't know loosen me up a bit." He said not sure how to speak for someone else. He figured he'd ask Ritsuko...if he remembered.

"Makes sense."She said as she passed the joint back to Shinji.

At that exact moment the sliding glass door slid open with a thunk. Revealing Auska who had a very pissed look still plastered on her face.

Thinking quickly, Shinji calmly dropped his joint and snuffed it by stepping on it. "Can I help you ?" He said turning around in his seat.

"What are you two doing out here?" She said accusingly. She didn't like the look Shinji had in his eye. That glossed twinkle he had in his eye that radiated calm despite her uncomfortable presence.

"Hikari was just talking to me about some of her single friends that she'd like to introduce me to." He said knowing it would rile Auska up.

Her face scrunched together , making it hard for Hikari to keep her composure. "Ha as if anyone would be interested in a baka hentai like you." She said as if it were a fact.

Shinji scoffed loudly. He was sick of her attitude. He stood up and with a grim look pressed on his face as high was officially fucked up. He knew he wasn't undesirable to women , Auska was just annoying him to the point where he couldn't enjoy himself due to the fact he had to keep defending himself from her bitching.

Hikari ,even though she was slightly inebriated , could see Shinji's shift in posture, and instantly knew he was upset. "Hikari I'm sorry but we'll have to talk later." He said in a low voice. He then made his way out, pushing Auska out of his way with his shoulder as he passed her.

They heard the door slam as they looked at each other.

"Whats up his ass." She said as if she was oblivious to what she said.

"Maybe because you were basically a bitch that just emasculated him?" Hikari said carelessly. The pot had definitely gotten to her as she let her true thoughts rang in the air.

"What?" She screeched. First Shinji now Hikari?

"Look all im saying is that Shinji already doesn't think much of himself despite the fact he's a great person, but when people like you put him down ,your making it that much harder for him to see that." She said shocking her self from the sage tone she had spoken with.

"Look I have to go, you can figure this out for yourself can't you?" She said as she got up and exited as well without giving her the chance to answer. She was beginning to get the munchies anyway.

Auska was confused. She had just gotten blown off by two people who never showed any resistance to her authority, or any in Shinji's case. She knew it was no mere coincidence they were acting the way they were at the exact time. They were hiding something.

She looked around the patio for evidence that would give her the answer she was looking for. She scanned the patio table finding nothing, so she turned her gaze to the cold concrete floor. She almost missed the small white stick like object that almost blended in with the floor had it not been for the gracious gift of perfect eye sight.

She picked it up pinched in between her pointer finger and thumb. It looked like a cigarette, but it had a more unrefined look to it , as if it had been hand made. She brought it under her nose and took a sniff.

She began to feel a bit dizzy from the intensity of the smell, but it didn't smell like cigarette smoke. But then an idea popped into her head; why not ask Misato, better yet why not tell her.

She would leave Hikari out of it, she was not her target, and it would be hard to convince her parents seeing as they don't like her either.

Maybe it would bring the boy down a peg or two. She smiled maliciously as she envisioned it.

**DOD...**

Shinji had exited his apartment building and was walking down the parallel street to it, not going to any particular destination. _'Glad to get the fuck out of there?' _ He thought to himself. He had been fed up with Auska's attitude as of late.

His eyes seemed opened now as he saw what she was. Really just a child acting as an adult. He didn't feel the need to take anything off of her anymore, or anyone for that matter.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard his name being yelled.

"Shinji! Wait up!." Hikari said as she ran to catch up to Shinji, _'Man he must have really wanted to get out of there. Can't really blame him though.' _ Hikari thought as she approached Shinji. She knew the red head could be volatile , but not to such a degree.

She finally caught up to Shinji, catching her breath as she did so.

"You ok?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah I'm fine, but I was wondering about you." She said with concern laced in her voice.

"Yeah i'm fine, she just really can get under my skin sometimes." Shinji said as he felt his left hand clench into a fist. With his right hand he retrieved his joints from his pocket. He took one out and put it to his lips, replacing the bottle to the confines of his pocket.

He lit the joint and started taking long deep hits, as he started walking.

"Where are we going?" Hikari said as she followed along.

Shinji thought as he held his breath to get the maximum effect of the herb. He did hear there was a carnival in town. _'Why not.'_ He thought to himself.

He offered the joint to Hikari and blew out his smoke. "The Carnival." He said as smoke exited his mouth in small gusts as he spoke.

Hikari couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. She took the offered joint and took a hit, making the cherry burn bright red for a substantial amount of time. She held it in for 5 seconds and blew it out, sending a torrent of smoke around her.

"Damn, I give that 3 points." Shinji said surprised.

She shot a smile at Shinji as they walked down the side walk. It was early afternoon, and the street as dotted with few people to watch the duo enjoy their toke session as they made their way to the carnival .

They soon made it to the carnival. The area was fenced off, and littered with food vendors, games, and various rides and roller coasters.

The two pot heads gazed at the sight before them. Their eyes lit up with a childish glint ,as they saw all the possibilities for fun.

Shinji made his way to the admission booth with Hikari in tow. After a relatively short line, he bought two all access passes for Hikari and himself.

"So what would you like to do first?" Shinji asked.

"Well it looks like they have all the basic carnival stands. Want to go to the bumper cars?" She said pointing to the large platform in front of them.

"Oh hell the fuck yes." Shinji said as a wide grin sprang itself onto his face.

But before Hikari could take a step towards the platform, Shinji had shot off like a bullet towards one of the empty cars. He leapt over the railing using his hand to propel himself over the edge, somehow skipping in front of the line without anyone noticing. He then picked out a purple car and sat ready to cause absolute mayhem as mischief burned in his eyes.

"Damn that boy runs fast." Hikari said as she made her way to the platform, actually waiting in line like a normal human being. She quickly found an empty orange car and sat down in it. She strapped herself in as other people around her began to seat themselves.

Soon everyone was situated and ready to have harmless fun. Oh they were in for a treat.

The start buzzer rang and the cars were granted movement.

**DOD**

The sound of four ambulances' sirens filled the air around the bumper car platform. Shinji and Hikari were walking side by side down the exit ramp, the latter stumbling.

"Well that was fun." Shinji said with a smirk.

"Not for the 6 people you just ran over!" Hikari yelled.

"They should have moved out the way." He retorted. "Besides they'll be fine." He continued waving a hand at her.

Hikari huffed. He was right, and carnival attractions weren't always the safest. She un tensed her stance and smirked at him. "So what's next?" She asked.

Shinji then waved his arm across the horizon in a gesture like motion. "Everything." He said with a wide grin.

That day Hikari and Shinji did just that. They rode roller coasters of all shapes and levels of danger, played games, with Shinji winning Hikari a panda in a shooting duck game. But they soon grew hungry so they made their way over to the food court area.

The food court offered a variety of choices, all from different nations.

For himself , Shinji had gotten a burger with a side of fries, while Hikari had went with pork ramen.

Shinji chomped into the burger before taking another swig of his coke, before he went back to eating his burger.

Hikari was fairing no better against her own battle with the munchies, as she slurped the noodles in a goku- like manner.

"So what do you want to do next Hikari?" Shinji asked as he wiped his face with a napkin.

Hikari had finished the last of her meal and was sitting back comfortably in the chair. "Well we've done just about everything in this place except the Ferris wheel." Hikari said.

Shinji's eyes widened as an idea entered his skull. "Yeah lets go, are you ready?" He asked as he got up.

"Yeah let's go."

The duo then made their way to the ferris wheel. They showed their wristbands and got into their own pod. The wheel was very large, a little more than half the height of an evangelion. The pods were circular and had open windows for the fresh breeze to come in.

The Pod was lined with a single row of comfortable cushion that served as the pod's seating.

Hikari was looking at the hills, and skyscrapers of Tokyo 3. Enjoying the scenery really. She had to admit that she enjoyed spending time with Shinji. Today she saw a side of him she didn't even know existed. _'The wonder of weed I suppose.' _ She thought to herself.

Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw Shinji reaching into his pocket to retrieve a joint. They were now at the top of the wheel, the operator having stopped the ride, so the patrons could enjoy the sunset that was occurring.

Shinji lit the joint and took slow drags off of the herb. He then took a long drag and passed it to Hikari. The two passed the joint back and forth as they looked at the landscape. "So Shinji what do you want to do when you get older." Hikari asked.

Shinji turned his head to the side in confusion. Ever since he came to Tokyo 3 he had literally living by the skin of his ass. He had been to busy to even think of what he wanted to actually do with his life.

"I really couldn't answer that to tell you the truth. I guess I just want to be content, that's the main goal I want to work on. Whats a life worth living if you leave it filled with regret?" He said.

Hikari was once again a bit surprised by Shinji's words. The two finished the joint as the ride started back up again.

After finishing their ferris wheel ride, they made their way to the exit as the sun finally set, leaving them in darkness as the street lights came on.

"Well Shinji It's been great but I have to get home, we'll have to do this again sometime ok?" She said with a smile.

"Of course, call me when you get home though so I know you get home safe." He said as they parted ways.

"Ok!" She yelled over her shoulders as she was going the opposite direction.

Shinji then made his own way home.

_**D.O.D**_

Shinji closed the door behind him. He then undid his sneakers and put them in their usual place. He looked up to see Auska staring at him from the couch.

Shinji was unnerved by her stare as he saw the devious smirk on her face as a frown was on his own.

"What?" He said gesturing with his hands. Auska was about to speak when he cut her off.

"As in what the fuck are you staring at."

Auska's jaw dropped, but before she could retort Misato's voice rang out.

"Shinji!Get in here!" She yelled harshly.

At that point Auska's smirk turned into a shit eating grin.

"Aw damn." He said as he knew that he had about a snowball's chance in hell of this being good news.

He trudged to the kitchen , restraining himself from slapping the shit out of Auska as he did so. He made it into the kitchen to see Misato sitting at the table facing him with her arms crossed. Shinji then looked at the table to see a small white object placed in front of Misato, which happened to be his left over joint.

He then looked at the hard face of Misato. He met her eye to eye, his gaze unwavering.

"You want to explain this Shinji?" She said breaking the tension.

"Well since it's a yes or no question...no." He then walked to the cabinet to get a glass.

Misato almost fell out of her chair from his response, but quickly recovered. "So you don't want to explain how you brought drugs into my home." She said. She had gotten home about an hour before Shinji when Auska had come to her with what she had found.

She had been confused as to what it was. It smelled like smoke , but yet again much stronger. Also it didn't look like a cigarette. So with no other choice she had torn open the joint revealing;weed. To say she was shell shocked was an understatement, so much so that her brain refused to believe it without confronting Shinji himself about it first.

She knew Shinji wouldn't do anything bad, but lately he had seemed more distant. So she really didn't know anymore.

Shinji walked over to the refrigerator and filled his glass with orange juice and sat down in front of her.

At this time Auska showed up and decided she wanted in on Shinji's seeming demise as well.

Shinji looked at Misato to see her awaiting an answer. He was about to speak when Auska cut him off, similar to how he did to her before.

"He's probably too high to understand , or even respond for that matter." Auska snidely added.

Shinji had a good day and now he had to come home to a cluster fuck comprised of two females. He felt the emotions that he usual repressed, mainly anger, rise up within him. They churned within in him, trying to find their way out. The end result you ask?

Shinji reached into his pocket and pulled out a joint and put it to his lips , surprising Misato and Auska. To their horror he revealed his zippo. He flicked it open and put the lighter to the joint. Breathing in the smoke and blowing it out of his nose. He tossed his zippo on the table in front of him.

Blue smoked wafted around the room as Auska and Misato were completely flabbergasted. "Now does this answer your question?" He said with a stone faced expression.

Shinji was taking a stand , a risky one at that. But he was tired, tired of being ignored. So he wanted to make sure that above all else he would be heard.

Misato's brain was struggling to process what she was seeing. At first she thought the red head may have been up to something , but this was proof in the flesh. She had to do something.

She didn't think of pot as a hobby or medication, but rather a vice, a vice that could harm her Shinji if she did not act.

"Shinji put that out, and give me the lighter and whatever you have left." She said.

"Why?" He asked as he took another toke and blew it out.

"I'm flushing it, you don't need to be doing that stuff Shinji." she said in a gruff tone.

Shinji quirked an eye brow at her and spoke before he could stop himself. "The fuck you are. I don't want to hear shit about me smoking .I don't do anything else but clean up after you and this cunt over here." He said pointing his thumb at Auska." And I don't say shit about it." He said firing off on Misato.

Misato was about to reply when Auska beat her to it. "Who the hell are you calling a cunt you bastard."

She was about to attack when Shinji pulled out the familiar black handle and flicked out his switchblade and stabbed it into the table with his right hand .

He removed his hand leaving the blade stuck upright in the table as a sign. Almost like a border that if crossed will resort in the deportation of Shinji's fist to Auska's jaw.

"I'm not finished. Auska I am tired of your shit. I am literally up to here with your piss poor attitude. I'm not putting up with it any more. If you push my button one more god damn time I swear to kami , I will stick my foot so far up your ass you'll be shitting socks.

Shinji said with acid in his voice. He stared her down with a fiery gaze she did not know he could cast. She fumed, but silently.

Misato meanwhile had was staring at the knife. She'd know that knife from anywhere. She then put the pieces together.

"Kaji gave you weed?" She accused.

Shinji dabbed his joint in an empty beer can. " No It was Ritsuko actually, she wrote a prescription and everything." He replied. The cat was out of the bag, so he might as well tell her.

Misato on the other hand was still confused. Shinji was a pot head, that she understood, but what she didn't understand why her friend would write Shinji a prescription for weed. She would deal with that later.

Right now she needed to deal with Shinji. She looked across the table to see him with his joint still burning in his now bridged hands, mirroring Gendo almost perfectly. His blue eyes boring into Misato like a drill.

She knew it was going to be tough to do, but she had to do it for his own good.

"Shinji you are not old enough to be doing this , it's bad for you. Do you know how much damage you could unknowingly be doing to yourself?" She tried.

Shinji felt his face tighten at that. She was trying to lecture him? Her of all people. Once again Shinji let his nuts drop, verbally speaking of course.

"Says the woman who drinks 6 cases of beer a day, im surprised your liver hasn't filed assault charges on you." He replied.

Misato bristled at the jab. "Im an adult, your still a child Shinji." She replied tersely.

"And that means that I can't make decisions for myself? Just because I'm younger I can't form rational thought? I was younger than this when I chose to pilot evangelion." He paused to take a drag on his joint. " And yes I admit I bitched about it at first, but Misato you know my past , you know what I've been through, but despite all of this I _still _did it." He said grinding his teeth at the last part.

The pot had made his tongue loose , and allowed his emotions to leak free and take verbal form, the gloves had been removed

Misato felt a jab at her heart as he continued.

"I could go on and on about how you've neglected me , or just outright ignored me , or how your completely wrong, but I wont and you wanna know why?" He asked his voice growing in volume.

Misato was a blank slate, prompting him to continue.

"I don't care anymore. It's only now that my eyes are open and I see how things are done around here,and I can't stand it anymore." He said with finality.

Misato felt her heart break at his words. But before she could add in a response he got up, joint hanging from his mouth.

He grabbed his knife then turned to walk into his room.

Shinji knew he wasn't thinking rationally, but he knew he needed to feel more than think in a situation like this.

He entered his room ,and went straight for his closet. He pulled out a black duffel bag and started throwing clothes into it. Literally ripping shirts, shorts , etc. off the hangers. He was leaving , he had had it with being under appreciated. He didn't care if he had to be on his own , at this point any where was better than there.

He was so caught up in his task he didn't hear Misato walk up behind him. He turned around to see tears at the corner of her eyes, making him falter slightly.

"You're leaving?" She said in pitiful tone. Misato had always thought of herself and her 2 way ward charges as a dysfunctional family of sorts. But now that Shinji was leaving, she knew things would never be the same.

Shinji took another toke and regained his nerve. "Yup." , he said simply. He had finished filling the bag with all the clothes he could, leaving what he couldn't. With what he had made during the angel wars he could buy all the clothes he needed if he wanted.

He hefted the bag's strap onto his shoulder, and walked over to his bed. He put the bag down and started to pack up his personal effects.

"You can't." She said. She was still his guardian and had some power over him.

"I can , and im going to." He said as he zipped up his backpack that contained his laptop.

"So youre going to run away just because I wont let you smoke weed!" She said unable to control her emotions.

Shinji stopped packing his backpack. The air was deathly still as no sound passed to Misato's ears with the exception of Shinji's calm breathing. He turned around to face her , his eyes glassy yet sharp, and focused.

He crushed the joint turned roach in his palm , snuffing it..Not even flinching from the small burn. He then threw the remains in the trashcan.

" I don't run away anymore Misato, if I did I wouldn't even be here. Like I said before I know I wasn't worth much in the beginning , but after all I have done, all that we have been through, I would think that I would have gained even a small amount of respect from you." He said in a calm tired tone. As if he had been repeating it in his head silently for years, or even months.

Misato was silent as her gaze had drifted to the floor. She knew she wasn't a perfect guardian , but had her actions really pushed him this far? Had she pushed his own ideas and opinions aside? These were the questions going through Misato's head.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Shinji zip his bag closed. Her mind rushed to think of a way to keep him, to hold on to him so she could repair what little of a family she had left.

Her desperation caused her military training to kick in. She straightened her back and her eyes gained a cold look in them.

"Shinji as your commanding officer you are not to leave without my permission." In her mind she sighed. She knew if she played this card, although a dirty one, Shinji wouldn't be able to resist her.

Shinji scoffed . "There's one little loop hole to that. You see you only have control over me in two places, and that's NERV and here, but what if I decide to move out?" He replied.

He couldn't resist smiling. He knew that unless Gendo said other wise, which in this case he wouldn't because he is the bastard king and all, he could live where ever he wanted.

Misato's pupils shrunk to peas as what he had said was true. Shinji slipped on his back pack and shouldered his duffel bag. He then walked right up to the prone woman who was slightly hunched over.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved his keys, and then dropped them in front of Misato. He walked out of the room, then the door. Slamming it as he went.

**D.O.D**

**Wow didn't see that one coming now did you? Where will Shinji live now, will Misato recover from the loss of one of her adoptive family members? Find out next time on Days of Daze.**


	5. Night Out

_**Disclaimer; I dont own any of the characters in this story, I just use them to amuse myself.**_

The city of Tokyo 3 was dark, illuminated only by the streetlights placed along the length of the street. People were beginning their commute home from their long day of work. On the sidewalk we find our lone pothead, Shinji Ikari, walking , his destination unknown.

His mind was still clouded with the anger that Misato had provoked from him. He looked up to the sky and noticed that it was dark, and he didn't have a place to stay tonight.

"Fuck, should have thought this out better." He said out loud. When he was in Misato's presence, he decided to act first and regret whatever whacked out decision later.

But now his decision had come to bite him the ass. He calmed down and looked at his options

He knew that Ritsuko would still be at work so , she couldn't come get him, and Kaji is probably at a bar or something of the sort, and by proxy unreachable. He sighed, he had dug himself deep in this one that's for sure.

He stopped walking and sat his bags down on the bench next to him. He pulled out his pill bottle and retrieved a joint, he needed to calm down and think this one through,

He sparked the flint wheel on his zippo and brought a red cherry to life on the end of the cylindrical object. He puffed under the night sky, the streets silent and some what barren, with the exception of a few people traveling home.

Shinji was thinking of who he could stay with, he knew Touji and Kensuke were still out of town, and Hikari lived on the other end of town. What would he do?

That's when his pocket started to vibrate.

He opened the phone and saw that it was a text message with directions that ended in a nearby address. About 3 blocks from Shinji's current position.

"What?" He said confused. Where did the directions lead to, and who sent them to him. He scrolled up to see the sender, but the strange thing is that it was from an unknown number.

"Okaaaaaay that's not creepy." He said. Shinji was torn. He could wander the streets for the night, or he could go to the mysterious destination and possibly be murdered._' Hmmmmmm decisions decisions.' _

Shinji sighed he wanted to feed into his curiosity , but at the same time he didn't want to end up missing.

He puffed on his joint some more,thinking of an alternative plan.

His phone vibrated in his palm again. He flipped it open, the number was unknown yet again. He scrolled down to see the message.

'This is not a trap.' The message read.

"Well isn't this just convenient." Shinji face palmed with his joint still in his mouth.

He then got up and picked up his bags and set off to the direction of the address

**DOD**

Shinji was walking on the sidewalk with a row of various shops on his right. The night was alive with night life. Shinji could hear the various bars and clubs from over a block away .

He looked at each building , but he couldn't find the right address that he had received. He looked in between the two buildings where the address was supposed to be. In the middle was simply a garage door.

"Could this be it?"He asked out loud to no one in particular. He walked up to it and was a bit startled when he heard a groaning noise.

The door lifted up along its rails revealing a medium sized storage space. It was about 20 by 20 space.

As it opened completely, the lights on the roof flickered on, revealing the room's contents. The room had a computer on the back wall and various tools lined up against the wall.

"Hello?" He said into the empty room. He waited for an answer , but received none, prompting him to walk inside.

On the far left side their were various cases a bed and what looked to be a cot, as well as a refrigerator. But in the middle of the room there was a mass under a brown, thick tarp.

Shinji walked up to it. His curiosity got the better of him finally as he tore the tarp off the top.

Shinji had to hold in a gasp as he saw it. In front of him was a 1996 twin turbo Nissan 300zx. The car was black and had a slim body that was flared out at the bottom, the muffler widely set. It sat on silver 5 spoke rims. Curves and grooves were made into its custom body kit.

Shinji dropped his duffel bag to his feet. He ran his hand against it's smooth polished frame. The car felt like silk under Shinji's fingertips. Shinji stopped as he reached the door handle. Through his small molestation moment, he had made it to the driver's side door.

"Could it be..." He said as he pulled the handle, the door popping open in response. Shinji opened the door and peered inside. The car was a manual, as it had a third pedal and a gear shift.

Shinji's gaze drifted down to the driver's seat, there was a handwritten note on white paper. He grasped it in his hand and sat inside the car with the door open, as he began to read.

_'Dear Shinji_

_If you have found this note then you have made it to my gift to you. If you're wondering who this is here's a hint; I slept with your mother.'_

"Bastard." Shinji said as he rolled his eyes and kept reading. So it was Gendo, but why was he doing this for him?

'_In this space lies all of the tools, resources, and measures for you to choose your own path should you use them. I f\failed you Shinji I understand that. I used you, Rei, and Ms. Katsuragi like tools and thought nothing of it, and was only until third impact that I saw what I had done to my very own flesh and blood. I don't expect you to forgive me, but as a man, as a father, I refuse to not at least try to make right the wrong I've done. _

Shinji quirked an eyebrow as he read more intentlY.

_In the glove compartment are the keys to the car, the storage locker(for your personal use), and a usb drive that contains various information to accessing the resources I mentioned earlier, as well as some other needed documents. I wish you luck Shinji..._

_P.S. Always be aware of your surroundings. I'll be watching you..._

Shinji dropped the note as his hand lost the ability to grip it. He laid back into the seat of the car. His dad was apologizing? To say that Shinji was floored was an understatement. Gendo Ikari was one of the coldest mofos around. And now he was apologizing?

"Well at least I have a way to get around now." He said scratching the back of his head. He got out and took off his backpack , throwing it in the back of the car, his duffel bag following soon after.

Shinji put the seat upright again and sat himself inside, closing the door behind him. He reached over and opened the glove box revealing a ring of keys with a unit 01 Key chain on it .

"Well can't say he doesen't have humor." Shinji said out loud. He then went back to exploring the box. In it he found a passport, drivers license , and the usb mentioned earlier.

He continued to feel around in the glove box. Trying to see what else his dad had packed him. He felt a metal handle of some sort. He wrapped his fingers around it and brought it into his view.

In his hand was a black Glock 21. To Shinji's credit, he wasn't all that surprised his old man gave him a piece. _'I mean he did have me pilot mankind's most destructive weapon.' _Shinji thought to himself.

Shinji didn't know it , but what he had told Gendo was only the half truth. After the failed scenario his paternal instincts, long ignored, came to the surface, and with them the need to protect his own son.

Only he knew Shinji was too old for him to protect, and even if he did, he knew that the world has many twists and turns that you can't plan for. So he gave Shinji the ability to protect himself. Shinji pressed the release button on the side of the but to release the mag.

He slid it out and looked at the ammo within the clip. As an EVA pilot , he had to know how to use a gun, so of course he had received formal training under a section 2 agent by the name of is how Shinji was so familiar with it, since he used it a lot in practice. _'Which is probably why he gave me this particular gun.' _Shinji thought to himself.

The bullets were the standard 9x19 parabellum rounds as far as he could tell, but it was how it looked that made him crinkle his face in confusion.

The round was looked like a brass casing, with the exception that their was no lead parabellum at the tip. Instead, there was a small rubber ball, half of it hidden in the brass.

Shinji thought hard and then it clicked. They were rubber bullets. They were meant to incapacitate the person and eliminate their mobility , but not kill them.

"We'll I guess the old coot has a heart after all." Shinji was torn. The man had abandoned him, and now he had a chance to salvage some type of relationship with him. Shinji didn't know what to do.

"I guess I'll just take it one day at a time and see what happens, only thing I can do really." Shinji decided. If his dad wanted to try, who was he to take that chance away from him, he who too had made many mistakes in his past.

Shinji broke out of his train of thought as his phone rang.

_'Shinji. Are you ok? I heard what happened.' _ Hikari asked through the phone. Auska had called her to brag about Misato throwing Shinji out of the house, so she had called him as soon as she heard.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said as he looked for the car key.

_'Shinji you don't have a place to stay I hardly call that ok.' _Hikari replied.

Shinji had found the key and stuck it into the ignition before replying. "I'll be fine Hikari, I just need to find a place to stay. There are plenty of housing sites in Tokyo 3."

"But where will you stay tonight?" She knew he wouldn't be able to stay at a hotel because of his age they wouldn't let him stay alone, despite his status/

"..."

Hikari couldn't stand by at that point..She felt she and Shinji have become something of close friends. And as such she couldn't stand by without at least trying. "Ok Shinji where are you? You're staying with me until you find some where to live." She said with finality.

Shinji had to catch the phone as it slipped from his grip as he heard what Hikari had just said. "Umm wouldn't your dad like kill me?" He replied.

"Not if I tell him you're coming,and hes at work for the night. Plus its just me and my sisters, and im pretty sure there better than Misato and Auska." She said.

Shinji thought about it, he really didn't have another plan. "Alright I'll be over in a few." Shinji said.

'Ok, I'll get the guest room ready, bye.'

"Bye." Shinji said as he closed his phone and placed it in the cup holder. He looked forward through the wind shield of the car, then down at the various gauges.

He reached up and started the car, the 6 cylinder engine firing up. Shinji tapped the gas a little, the wide muffler making a deep growl in response.

Shinji then pressed the clutch and put the car in reverse. He eased the car out of the storage locker/garage. He righted the car as he reached the street. He pressed the electronic key and closed the door, and shifted into first, making his way to Hikari's.

**DOD**

Shinji pulled up in front of Hikari's house. He pulled the e-brake up and and turned the car off. He got out out of the car with his backpack and duffel in hand.

Hikari's house was huge, by Shinji's standards. It was about 2 stories high, but it had a wide base, so it had a lot of space to house it's occupants. The house was white with blue shingles and looked fairly new.

He made his way through the path to the front door. Shinji raised his hand up to ring the door bell and shifted his stance as he waited.

After a few more seconds, the house's door opened to reveal the class rep. "Hey Shinji." She said with a bright smile on her face. Hikari couldn't help it. On the inside she was giddy that Shinji would be staying with her until he found a new place to live.

"Hey Hikari ,may can I come in?" He asked

"Oh , of course come right in. I have a pot of tea ready and my sisters are eager to meet you." Hikari was the middle child of the family. Her older sister Kodama ,22, was a college graduate and worked for an accountant firm in Tokyo 3.

Her younger sister Nozomi,12, was very smart for her age, if not a bit immature. She was obsessed with everything related to EVA. So Shinji was in for a world of questions.

Shinji walked into the house. The decor was based mainly on white and gray colors, as well as some black. The front door led straight into the living room. The house had a homey feel to it.

There was a set of black couches in front of a fairly large plasma tv. On the sides of said couches were small tables that held lamps. On the far left side of the room, Shinji saw a hallway that he guessed split of,and led off to the different rooms of the house.

"Come on, the kitchen is this way." She said as she motioned for him to follow. Shinji took notice and followed her.

She then led him to a medium sized kitchen. The counters were stainless, and the cabinets were black. Shinji noticed that their were several quality appliances lined up along the back wall of the counters.

He then noticed the other two occupants sitting at the black table to his right. He stood straight as their gazes past over him.

"Yo." He said breaking the silence.

"So your Shinji." The older of the two spoke. Shinji knew that by her age and what little Hikari had told him that this was Kodama. She was wearing a midnight blue blouse and black tight jeans with black high heels.

Instead of the usual single pony tail hairstyle, her hair was let down and cured. She had a slight amount of make up on, but Shinji didn't think she needed it.

"Indeed I am, and you must be Kodama." He said with a smirk.

"And I'm Nozomi." The smallest in the room piped up. She was in a green school jumper with her hair done up in 3 separate pony tails. Freckles lined dotted her face, almost like a younger Hikari.

"Well don't just stand there, come on have a seat." Kodama offered.

Shinji sat across from Kodama , and Hikari the same except it was across from Nozomi.

Shinji looked at Kodama, her own eyes measuring him up. From what Hikari had told her, Shinji was a pretty average kid, a little shy as well.

But this person in front of her seemed relaxed. He carried a certain aura around him, but she couldn't place what it was. He had wild shoulder length black hair and piercing blue eyes. Kodama could feel herself blush as Hikari spoke.

"So what happened with you and Misato?" Auska had told her bits and pieces but no real details.

"We had a blow out. We had a disagreement about some decisions I made of my own choice." He said simply.

Hikari immediately knew what he meant, and the realization hit her. She tried to hide her reaction.

Kodama on the other hand was curious as to what he meant. _'I'll have to talk to him myself.' _ She thought. She then looked at her watch and saw the time. "Well I have to go meet the girls at the bar, so I will trust you two can handle yourselves." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Oh that's what I forgot, dad said he hasn't got your car fixed yet, so you won't be able to drive for a bit." Hikari said.

Kodama's eyes shrunk. "Well this is fine time to tell me after I've gotten all dressed up! Man I have been waiting to go out all week, and it's not like I can walk here in these heels." She said in a huff.

Shinji felt bad for the must really suck to get that prepared for something only to find out it was a false alarm of himself had wondered what it would be like to go to a bar, but he had never acted on the idea.

Then hes eyes shrunk as he thought of something. "Well , I could drive you." He offered.

The girls gawked at Shinji.

"Since when did you get a car?" Hikari asked.

"Tonight, my dad gave it to me." He said.

Hikari cocked her head back in confusion. Shinji's dad? Wasn't he the hard ass of all hardasses.

"Well isn't that convenient , but whats the catch?" She said with a quirk of her eye brow.

"Damn, you saw right through me. Ok well I want you to take me with you. I've always wondered what it would be like, so why not." He said.

Kodama looked at the boy intently. She knew she could get him in , that wasn't a problem , and it would be a chance to loosen him up so she could try to learn more about him, see what type of person he was. Especially if they were going to be living under the same roof.

"Ok , you got a deal." She said as she brought her hand up for Shinji to shake.

Shinji took the offered handshake.

"You sure about this Shinji? It can get a little wild over there." Hikari warned. She had heard of various crimes and assualts that have occurred at that particular bar.

"I can handle myself better than you think Hikari, I'll text every now and then to check in. Kodama, shall we." He said getting up.

"Perfect." Kodama said as she grabbed her purse.

The duo made their way downstairs to where Shinji had parked.

**DOD**

Shinji walked outside with Kodama in tow, he walked around to the drivers side and un locked the doors.

Kodama on the other hand had stopped a few feet from the car and was alternating her gaze between Shinji and the car._'This kid is just full of surprises. Lets see what other tricks he has up his sleeves.' _She thought to herself.

"You coming?" Shinji asked , breaking her out of her train of thought.

"Oh yeah." She said as she made haste to get into the car.

The two got into Shinji's car and buckled up.

"So what type of car is it?" Kodama asked looking around the interior of the car.

"It's a Nissan 300zx I think the 1996, but im not sure. It could be a twin turbo but I honestly haven't had the chance to find out." Shinji replied as he started the car.

He put the e brake down and pulled off from his spot.

"So Shinji now that were all alone, tell me a bit more about yourself Shinji." Kodama inquired. Now that her sisters weren't there, she has the advantage to learn more about Shinji.

"Well I came here at first to pilot EVA, im pretty sure Hikari told you everything , I'll get to that later." He said hesitating slightly.

"But I used to live with these two girls, Misato and Auska. They didn't do anything but tease and belittle me like a dog while they sat on their asses all day. But I recently got fed up with their shit, so here I am."

"Wow quite blunt aren't we? Turn at the end of the street." Kodama said.

"That's just a quick summary, I'll tell you more. when im in a more talkative mood." He said semi sarcastically as he propped his head up against the window with his left arm.

_'He's going to be a hard egg to crack.' _Kodama surmised. She had taken psychology courses in college, and from what she could see, he had some trust issues to say the least. _'Probably from his dad.' _Kodama surmised from the info Hikari had given her.

Kodama continued to direct Shinji to the bar. She then got a familiar itch. No one knew this but Kodama was a bit of a smoker of the nicotine variety. With work getting more stressful , she needed some type of release.

_'I wonder if he would be cool with it?' _ Kodama thought to herself. Shinji seemed fairly mellow for his age, but she was of age, so she really could just ask him if it was cool in his car.

"Hey Shinji mind if I smoke in your car, and you mind not telling Hikari either, I don't want her lecturing me." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Shinji simply nodded his head as he turned on the radio**(Am I A Psycho-Tech n9ne)**. She rolled down her window and pulled out a box of cigarettes. She pulled one out and put it to her lips, but as she looked in her purse she couldn't find her lighter. A flame appeared in her field of vision. She looked up to see Shinji holding a black zippo.

She shrugged her shoulders and put her cigarette to the flame and lit it. She inhaled and blew her smoke out of the window in quick succession .

She then turned over to see that Shinji had what looked to be a joint in his mouth? _'Shinji smokes pot!' _Kodama thought to herself. She knew the boy had a few surprises but damn.

Shinji smiled at Kodama's reaction. He knew he could get away with smoking because Kodama smoked and didn't want her family to know. So he had a bargaining chip of sorts.

He put his zippo to his joint and closed it once he got a cherry going. He breathed the smoke out as he reached the end of the street and stopped at the red light. Kodama watched as the boy breathed blue smoke from his nostrils. His eyes looking straight forward cut in a slight glare.

"Your going to turn right here and we should be there soon." Kodama ,on the outside, was unfazed by Shinji smoking pot.

She too was a smoker when she was his age, but as she graduated from college and made her way through the corporate ladder, she had lost contact with her dealers and had been left without her precious herb.

But now that Shinji would be staying with them, she could bum some off of him depending on how the night went.

Shinji was going about 40 miles an hour, cruising down the lane he was currently on, taking drags off of his joint.

"Ok were almost there, its going to be on the left. Now stick close to me and everything will be fine ok?" She said throwing the cigarette now cigarette butt out of the window.

Shinji looked down the street to try and spot the bar. He succeeded when he saw a relatively large building with various patrons loitering adorning a neon sign that said 'Sidewinder'.All around the building were people, most of them tipsy or drunk.

Shinji could just feel a fight brewing in this place. He would have to handle himself professionally tonight.

Shinji quirked his eyebrow at the name, but looked for a spot to park his car. He found one near the entrance next to a plethora vehicles as well as motorcycles. Shinji continued to gaze out of the window as he pulled into the spot. He saw many people ranging from early 20's to late 40's.

His eyes darted to see a commotion in the crowd. Two mean were wrestling on the ground. The separated from each other. The man on the left twilred out a butterfly knife, while the other had brought out a switch blade.

"Aww damn , they're not kidding are they." Shinji said flabbergasted.

"Nope , it happens more often than you think. You should be ok though, just follow my lead." She said winking at him.

"Hey Kodama, can I have a cigarette?" He said as he turned off the car.

"Why?" She inquired.

He pulled the e brake up before answering. "Because I need to look like some what of a bad ass in order to blend in. And I don't want to smoke joints in their yet because I don't know how lax they are." He replied.

Kodama was surprise by his observations. She reached into her purse and retrieved the white stick. Shinji took it and lit it with his zippo. He tasted the tobacco and tried not to choke.

He was used to smoking joints , but by comparison weed had a much more enjoyable taste to him. He took some more experimental puffs , the smoke releasing nicotine into his system and speeding up his heart rate by proxy.

With him smoking a joint on the way and now a cigarette, Shinji had a very good buzz going. He looked at Kodama with steel eyes. "You ready?" He said.

Hikari nodded._'Talk about getting into character.' _She thought to herself as she got out.

Shinji swung his door out a few moments later, and stepped out and stretched a bit before adjusting his pants.. He closed the door and started walking towards the entrance, Kodama closed her own door before following Shinji.

She caught up to him before they reached the front door where their were bouncers stationed. She took Shinji's arm and wrapped it around her waist.

Shinji quickly caught on to her ploy, and pulled her tighter to him. Kodama tried not to blush as they came to the entrance.

Two burly security Guards eyed the two. They then simply shrugged and opened the door for the two.

"Have a nice night." One of them said as Shinji officially crossed the threshold. Inside their were several tables were scattered throughout the main floor with booths around the perimeter of the room.. Along one section of the wall was the bar.

The bar was cloudy with smoke , and smelled of sweat, beer, and of course, smoke. Music blared from overhead speakers. Varying from different genres by suggestion of the patrons.

Shinji could tell that it was a busy night. Almost every table was filled with a person who in turn had a drink in their hand. Shinji could feel stares on his form. He felt his heart beat in his chest as his palms started to get sweaty.

His pupils constricted. _'Ok you got this just blend.' _Shinji thought to himself as he calmed himself. He took another inhalation of smoke, the nicotine taking the edge off.

Shinji raised his head as he breathed the smoke out of his nose and stared forward, unknowingly putting out a dominant aura. As he walked he saw a few women sending looks his way. Their eyes glazed with hunger.

_'I am not on the menu...yet' _ He thought with an evil grin.

"So where are your friends?" Shinji asked, voice steady as sniper's finger.

"Hmmmm they should be...oh! There they are. Come on Shinji." She said as she grabbed his arm and made her way to a specific booth.

Shinji followed Kodama to a booth near the back and across from the bar. In it were two women in their early 20's . One had bright green eyes with long ,straight ,red hair. She was wearing a purple shirt with black jeans and black sneakers.

The girl sitting next to her had blonde hair done up in a spikey bun and blue eyes. She was wearing a green blouse with khaki pants and wooden heels.

"Hey guys." Kodama greeted as she sat down next to her friends, Shinji sitting down next to her.

"What the hell took you so long?" The red head girl said irately before taking a swig from a mug that was placed in front of her.

"My car broke down so I had to get a ride from my sisters friend." She said motioning to Shinji.

The two girls recoiled at that.

"Isn't he a little young to be driving much less be in a bar?" Said the blonde girl.

"Oh relax, they don't I.d and he's the legal driving age." She said waving their concerns off.

"Shinji do you want a drink?" Kodama asked Shinji. '_Hell, might as well since hes's here.' _Kodama thought to herself. She didn't know how curious Shinji was about drinking, but she rather he do it under her eye than by himself , or with people who could potentially get him hurt.

Plus alcohol does wonders for loosening the tightest of tongues.

Shinji thought about it. He knew Kaji drank rum from what he saw in the chest in his watermelon patch, so it couldn't be that bad._'Can't be any worse than that shit Misato drinks.'_ He thought to himself.

"Yeah get me Barcardi." He replied. H e knew the brand because he had read it off of the bottle in Kaji's chest when he peered inside.

"Ok, ill be right back. Now you 3 play nice now." She said

"Wow, you think you can handle that squirt, you don't look like much of a drinker, or a smoker for that matter." The red head said as Kodama got up to go get the drinks, leaving Shinji to fend fro himself.

"Well, I guess I'm just full of surprises, there's more than meets the eye when it comes it me." He said with a cheeky grin.

The redhead looked him straight in the face, Shinji doing the same. To him she held an animalistic quality. The shape of her eyes , the predatory grin on her face. Like a shark circling around it's prey to strike the final blow.

But Shinji did not waver. Several seconds went by before she cracked a grin. "I like you kid, you must have a really big pair for you to waltz in here like that. The name is Rachel, and this is Vera." She said gesturing to the blonde.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Shinji, Shinji Ikari."

"Wait, wait , wait _the_ Shinji Ikari?" Vera asked.

"Yup , the one and only." He replied smiling a bit. After the angel wars, the children of EVA became known

"Damn, so your the one who fought all those alien fuckers?" Rachel asked.

"Yup, wasn't easy either." He said stubbing out his cigarette.

"But what are you doing with Kodama if I may ask." Vera said.

"Well, I moved out from my guardian's house , and I'm staying with her until I can get my own place."

At this time Hikari came back with a bottle of barcardi 151 and two wide brimmed glasses with 3 cubes of ice in them.

"Kodama , you really should have told us you were bringing a celebrity as your date." Vera joked.

Kodama blanched. "He's not my date. He wanted to come and I needed a ride that's all." She said retaking her seat, huffing as she did so.

She poured Shinji a drink and slid it to him over the smooth tabletop surface. He caught it easily and stared at the amber liquid before taking a test sip. He immediately felt the alcohol burn it's way down his throat harshly, but leaving a warm pleasant feeling in its trail.

"You ok Shinji?" Kodama making sure he didn't overdo anything. Kodama was responsible despite what others thought. She may drink and smoke, with minors in this case, but she always made sure everything went smoothly.

Shinji turned to look at her, his head swimming slightly. "I'm fine." He said before he took another swig. The taste wasn't as bad as the drinks bite, but after the amount he had smoked before coming to the bar he could barely feel it.

"Well I guess the squirt can hold his stuff." Rachel said as she watched Shinji nurse his drink.

"I'm not surprised honestly, he's been shocking me all night." Kodama said as she poured herself a glass of Barcadi.

"So Shinji what was it like fighting the angels?" Vera asked. She knew it might be a sensitive subject for the lad, but it was a once in a life time chance to get answers straight from the source.

Shinji had been expecting that. He sighed. "Excuse me." He then pulled out his pill bottle. He felt comfortable smoking in the bar. He doubted his smoke could be traced back to him in suck a cloudy room. Plus he had seen other people doing more questionable things.

He retrieved a joint and put it to his lips and followed up by lighting it. Blue smoke came from his nose as he looked at the girls. He leaned back in his seat as he spoke. "Well I can't get into too much detail , but I can give you a little insight.." He said as he inhaled another hit.

He blew his smoke out before speaking again. " I could say it was hell or something akin to that, but I don't think that would be the right wording for it." Shinji said in a solemn voice.

He inhaled again and took another hit. He was feeling more relaxed now, but at the same time uneasy as memories from his past started to boil to the surface. He steadied his nerves before continuing, the girls closely listening..

"It was a battle one that seemed impossible to win. Every time we faced an angel it was always different in it's fighting capabilities ,strategies, and form. So every time we went out we literally had to think of some crazy ass plan, in which I also take some responsibility for, on the fly to defeat the damn things." He said as he took another hit.

"Wow, sounds stressful." Rachel said as she took a swig of her drink.

"That's a lot to put on someone your age." Vera added.

"You guys don't know the half of it, nor will you." He said as he put out his joint.

Kodama felt the awkward silence and spoke up to diffuse it

"Well now that we have that over let's get hammered!" Kodama said. The group cheered as they began to consume their drinks with gusto.

"Oh and Shinji you can only have one more glass, you are the designated driver." She said to the boy/

Shinji in a show of bravado swallowed down the rest of his drink. The alcohol burned in his chest, he felt lightheaded for a split second but persevered.

"Reload." He said to Kodama, sliding his glass to her.

"So Kodama is Koichi still bugging you to go out with him?" Rachel asked with a smirk as Kodama overfilled Shinji's glass by accident.

Shinji passed her a napkin, she nodded her head. "Yeah that guy really doesen't know how to take no for an answer." She said as she knocked back her glass.

"Who's Koichi?" Shinji asked.

"Well at our firm we basically handle our customer's financial affairs. We have one client that is...questionable." Vera explained.

"Wh-."

"Keiske Yahura, Tokyo 3's top crime boss." Rachel answered.

"Rachel! You know we're not supposed to reveal information like that!" Vera scolded.

"Oh get your panties out of a twist, who's going to do anything about it." She said as she finished off the rest of her drink.

"So Kieske is the one bothering you? But I thought the guy's name was Koichi?" Shinji said getting a little bit flustered.

"No Kieske is Koichi's father." Kodama clarified.

"And daddy's boy thinks that because we work for his father he''s entitled to...private privileges " Rachel said, wiggling her eyebrows for emphasis.

Shinji sweat dropped. "He's an arrogant prick isn't he?"

"Oh he's more than that. Ever since he saw Kodama one day at the office , he has been demanding that she go out with her." Vera said.

"I've had to change my number 6 times this month alone." Kodama grumbled as she grabbed the bottle to refill her glass."I just wish he'd leave me alone."

"Now why would I do that?" A new voice spoke.

"Speak of the devil." Rachel spoke into her glass ,getting an elbow in the rib from Vera in return

"Shinji looked to his side towards the open side of the booth and saw a 20 something Japanese man. He had on a blue silk shirt, jeans , and black sneakers. Around his neck was a gold chain that was surely worth a good thousand dollars.

His hair was slicked back and on his face a smirk was plastered on his face. On each side of him were two 6 foot body guards that were both wearing suits, much like section 2's.

_'Why is it that all body guards wear suits, I want to know who made that the requirement for a job that requires a person to blend in and look inconspicuous.' _Shinji thought to himself.

The man came closer to the booth, his body guards following. Shinji sized the man up. He carried an aura of arrogance. The way he held his face, walked, even swayed spoke of his hubris. When he got close enough he slid into the seat that was conveniently next to Kodama.

"So how are you tonight babe." He said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Shinji could see her stiffen. _'If this asshole gets out of line I'm stomping a mudhole in his back.' _Shinji had decided in his mind.

"So you want to go see a movie?" He said sliding closer to her.

"I would like to ,but I'm hanging out with Shinji tonight." She said gesturing to Shinji. She sighed. She had found an excuse to give him so he'd leave her alone.

Koichi swung his gaze over to Shinji. "Isn't he just a kid? What is he doing in here anyway?" Koichi said mockingly.

Shinji gritted his teeth at the man's tone. He knocked back the whole glass of Bacardi that had just been refilled. His vision swam a bit as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I'm older than I look, and I act older than _some people_. He said with a grin.

Koichi bristled at that as he grit his teeth.

Kodama ,seeing a fight about to occur spoke up. "Shinji it's getting late, are you good to drive?" She asked.

Shinji nodded and retrieved a joint from his pill bottle and lit it. He stood up and turned his head to Vera and Rachel. "Ladies, I had a nice time talking to you tonight. We should do this again sometime." he said as they nodded in return.

Kodama pushed Koichi out of her way as she stood up.

"I can drive you home, I think my car is better than that piece of shit he probably has." Koichi spoke.

Shinji was getting pissed. He turned around to face the man and sent a glare his way.

"Oh is the little kid pissed? Did I hurt your feelings?" He replied with a sneer. Koichi did not take losing well. He'd be damn before he'd let a kid steal his woman.

Shinji blew smoke from his nose, drawing Koichi's attention. "So this is what your into? If you wanted drugs I could have gotten you some, you didn't have to whore yourself out to this junkie." He said making Kodama's jaw drop.

A self satisfying grin made it's way onto his face, but then from out of no where he felt a blow that carried a sledge hammer like weight impact the side of his face. Koichi lost his balance and narrowly missed a table's edge as he fell to the ground, his vision swimming.

Kodama looked at Koichi as he struggled to get to his feet, his body guards rushing to help him.. She turned her head to where he had been standing seconds earlier and saw Shinji , fist still raised, and a fury burning from with in his eyes.

"Wow! Talk about fastest knockout time kid." Rachel said.

He dropped the stance he had been holding and turned to look at Kodama."I'm sorry but I would of felt crappy later on if I didn't hit that jackass." He said.

Kodama looked at Shinji . _'Did he punch him because he was angry at what Koichi said to him, or what he said about me.' _Kodama blushed at the idea of Shinji protecting her honor.

Her thoughts were halted as she saw Koichi getting to his feet.

"You bastard. Do you know who I am?" He asked in a menacing tone as he held his jaw. He felt 3 loose teeth and he could taste the blood as it began to run in his mouth.

"A rich,arrogant asshole who doesn't take no for an answer?" Shinji replied.

The bar grew quiet as everybody stopped to see what the commotion was ,while Koichi looked with his jaw nearly unhinged.

"What are you 2 standing there for, get him!" He said to his body guards.

The two large me advanced on the boy.

"Aww Shit Kodama, move back some." Shinji said.

They walked side by side , one had blonde hair, and the other had brown. Other than ,that the two looked identical.

_'Figures. I bet they just make body guards on a assembly line.' _He thought as he rolled his eyes.

He looked up as the brown haired one threw a punch at him. Shinji swung his head to the side, dogding the then brought his knee up into the man's groin with a shattering impact, making the large man fall to the ground in a heap.

He then blew out a torrent of smoke from his nose. "Damn, sorry about that man, but you are bigger than me and I take a break when I get one...no pun intedned." He spoke.

The brown haired man looked at the small boy and the large man who had tried to take him down, and sighed.

"I'm too old for this shit, kick his ass for me kid. Hey bartender get me a beer!." He said as he walked to the bar.

Shinji nodded at the man in respect as he passed by.

Koichi's eyes turned into the size of peas. _'Who the hell is this kid, he just comes out of no where and he's able to take out a top notch body guard like it's nothing!' _Koichi thought as he felt himself start to shake.

He looked at Shinji, the boy looked like your average teenager standing at 5'6, not very intimidating. He looked Shinji straight in his eyes, glazed over in concentration at the task at hand.'_He's just a kid!I;m a grown ass man afraid of some punk kid!' _Koichi raged in his mind.

"Your in trouble now kid." He said in a menacing tone

He grit his teeth and reached into his back pocket with his right hand and revealed a pair of silver brass knuckles. He slipped them over each hand and got into a boxing stance. By this time a crowd of patrons had gathered around to see the fight. Many of them were cheering and placing bets.

"Shinji!" Kodama yelled, scared for his safety.

Shinji looked at the man. He took his joint out of his mouth and tossed it on the floor, snuffing it out with his shoe. "Back up Kodama." Shinji said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the handle of his switchblade, making the crowd grow wild with anticipation.

He pressed the button and the blade flicked out with a click. He flipped it around in his hands so that it was in a reverse grip.

As Shinji took his stance, Koichi rushed at him, pouncing on him like a wild animal. He swung wildly with his right fist, aiming for Shinji's mouth.

Shinji in return ducked under the blow and came up with a hard right haymaker. Shinji followed up by crouching low and swept Koichi's legs from under him, making him fall flat on his ass. The crowd roared in response.

"Come on Kodama let's go."Shinji said as he stepped over Koichi.

Kodama followed Shinji outside through the horde of drunken people trying to get a look at the victim of the most recent bar fight.

"Shinji how did you do that?" Kodama asked in bewilderment. He wasn't that big and he had already had two drinks, yet he handled it fine. Even though Koichi was an asshole he still knew how to hold his own.

Shinji scratched his head. "To tell you the truth I don't know, maybe I'm just a better fighter when im intoxicated."He said shrugging his shoulders.

Kodama stored the information away for a later time. "Come on, Hikari is going to have a fit that I kept you out this long, not even to mention the bar fight." She said rubbing her face.

"Let's just get home, Shinji said yawning as he opened his door and got in, Kodama following him.


	6. The Weekend Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genisis Evangelion or it's characters. All credit goes to it's creators.**

It was dawn out in the city of Tokyo 3, most of her occupants asleep. We find that our resident robot pilot/pothead is not one of them.

He was staying in Hikari's guest room. It was fairly large and painted in a cream color. It had a king sized bed with black sheets and comforter. Shinji was sitting cross legged on top of his bed, laptop open in front of him and the lights off.

After his first bar fight, he drove Kodama and himself home with little difficulty. The both of them came home finding Hikari and Nozomi sound asleep. They split to their separate rooms to rest for the night.

Shinji had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep before he woke up. Unable to go back to sleep he got onto his laptop.

Sticking out of the side was the USB that Gendo had given Shinji. Shinji had soon figured out that within it were account numbers that contained all of the money that he had earned as a pilot and then some.

There were also supply lists as well. Parts for his car, tools, and even more weaponry, all stashed at the storage locker. Along with all of this were various how to manuals that Gendo had written specifically for Shinji. All of his small little tricks in life as well as manipulation.

Gendo wanted to pass this on to Shinji, not for forgiveness, but rather the need of a father to give his son the necessary tools for life.

Shinji laid back on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. What would he do with it all? He figured the first thing is for him to get a house. _'I could go after school. I do have a car now.' _Shinji thought to himself.

Shinji felt a grimace form on his face. Truth be told, Shinji liked staying with Hikari, he felt like he actually meant something to her and her sisters. He pushed the matter out of his mind for later.

He was about to stand up when he heard a sound come from the doorway. With quick reflexes he reached under his pillow and drew his blade, snapping it open before he took a crouched stance on the bed.

He looked at the door with feral eyes only to see a wide eyed Kodama wearing a t shirt and shorts." Oh it's just you."Shinji said as he plopped back down on the bed.

Kodama sweat dropped at him. "I hope I didn't scare said as she walked over and sat on the end of his bed.

"Naw, I'm fine. What can I do for you?"He said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, back hunched.

"I couldn't sleep, and I saw the light from your room and thought you might be up."

"Yeah I was looking some things up, I'm a little restless myself to tell you the truth." He said as he palmed his face with his left hand, a weary look in his eye.

"Did you not sleep well?She asked .

Shinji turned to look at her. "Oh it's not that, I'm just getting used to being in a new environment."He said scratching his long mane of hair. It wasn't known to many people, but Shinji had to get a lot of haircuts because of how fast his hair grows.

But lately he had decided to let it grow out, and now it was only a scant inch from what would be the middle of his back.

Kodama saw Shinji fiddling with his long mane of hair and had an idea. She moved herself to her knees and positioned herself behind him on the bed.

She delved her hands into his hair at the top of his head, and started to braid his hair. Shinji felt her hands weave his hair into a single braid.

" said. "Now you don't have to worry about your hair getting in your face."She said as she handed Shinji a mirror that was sitting on the night stand.

Shinji took the mirror and surveyed her work. Because of the length of his hair, his braid ran down near to the middle of his back and hung freely, but other than the weird weight difference he liked the new look.

"Thanks."He said as he got up. He then walked over to where he had piled his clothes up and put on his cargoes but leaving his shirt, leaving him clad in his wife beater.

Kodama moved to where he had been sitting before. Little did she know, her shorts were riding up slightly, revealing inked skin on her left thigh.

Shinji eyed her. "You have a tattoo?"He asked. Her eyes widened slightly before she formed a smile

"Yeah, guilty as charged, Rachel was the one who pushed me to get it, she said I would never have enough nerve to get it myself."She said raising the leg of her shorts up, revealing a henna styled butterfly.

Shinji eyed the ink. He could tell it was well done just by the detail put into it.

"Not bad, wouldn't mind getting one myself one day. He said as an afterthought. "Well I'm going to go out for a little while, maybe a little drive will help me get my head together."

Kodama heard the stress in his voice, she knew something had to be bothering him, she moved from off of the bed and closer to Shinji. You know I'm not just a roommate, you can talk to me too."She said looking him in the eye with sincerity.

Shinji looked back and spoke. "I just wish there could have been a better way that me and Misato could have handled this situation. I mean I know I'm not an adult, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have solved this civilly."He replied.

Kodama nodded her head. "Look why don't we go for a drive later on today instead, to help clear your head maybe?"She said with a small smile

Shinji knew she did not have an ulterior motive, he could find those like a drug dog on speed.

"Sure we can go to the mall or something, but now I honestly need to get some sleep, beating up assholes make me tired."He said yawning

.

"Ok Shinji, good night or morning."She said as she walked out of the room. "Thank you for tonight Shinji, I had a great time, and thanks for taking care of that guy, but you know he will be back right, he's kinda persistent."

"If he does, I'll handle him. I can defend myself"

._'Have to since we all know how useful section 2 is when you__池__e about to get your ass whooped.' _ Shinji thought to himself.

"True based on what I saw tonight, where did you learn that anyway?"

"Well, I basically had hand to hand combat training, it was a requirement in order for me to pilot. On top of that you learn how to fight reeaally well when shit is always trying to kill you."he said.

"Well, I'll see you this afternoon, ok?She said as she turned to the door.

"Ok. Shinji said as he sat on his bed.

"Man I need to get some sleep. He said as he got fully onto the bed and tried to get some rest.

Kodama on the other hand was still wide awake. Kodama knew what was bothering him now, but how could she help him fix it?

She felt like she owed Shinji some type of repayment for getting that jerk off of her.

_'Ok let's think, he's basically brooding over a falling out he had. He needs something that will make him feel new, so he won't dwell on the past and look to the future._' Kodama thought to herself.

She thought hard and then out of the blue, his words from their earlier conversation echoed through her head. She smiled as the thought took the form of an idea.

"Hikari is going to be soooooo pissed."She said out loud as she closed her door.

**DOD**

Shinji was laying in his bed, flat on his stomach, finally sleeping peacefully. Shinji stirred in his sleep, and after a moment his eyes opened slowly.

He gained his bearings after clearing his eyes with his hand. He then pushed the covers off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 12:30 in the afternoon. He shrugged and stood up.

He had slept in his clothes, so he was already dressed. Shinji stretched, popping his back before he started walking, grumbling slightly along the way.

"Still to goddamn early to be waking up."He muttered to himself.

Shinji walked into the living room to find Hikari on the couch watching TV with Nozomi.

"Morning."He said as he plopped down next to Hikari.

"Morning Shinji, I see your going for a new hairstyle too?"She said with a smirk. She liked his braid, it made him seem more, elegant if she had to describe it.

"Huh? Oh yeah your sister did it for me, matter of fact where is Kodama?"He said, looking around for her.

"She's getting ready to go out. She said you two were doing something today?"She replied.

"Well I know we were supposed to go for a drive, but that's about it. I should go get ready."He turned around on his heel and started to return to his room.

"Can I come, can I come?"Nozomi finally piped up, barely hiding the excitement in her voice. Ever since the pilot arrived, she had been slowly biding her time until she could bombard him with questions and possibly get the answers for the questions she had pondered for so long now.

Shinji could tell from the gleam in the 12 year olds eye that she had other reasons for tagging along. Shinji almost cringed on the inside, something instinctual told him that if he took this girl came with him, he might just lose his mind.

"Ummmm me and Kodama had something special planned, so maybe sometime tonight we can hang out, just you and me."Shinji said in an assuring voice. At least if he had the girl in a stable environment he could control how the conversation went to his liking.

The girl did not falter in her excited smile as she looked at Shinji with pink tinged cheeks as she heard his voice. It was gentle yet firm.

"Nozomi aren't you supposed to be meeting your friends at the arcade soon?"Hikari spoke.

"Oh geez! Your right."Nozomi said as she leapt from the couch and made haste for the door.

"I'll see you later Shinji!"She said right before she slammed the door closed.

Shinji let out a breath of air. "Wow shes really interested in me."Shinji said as he scratched the top of his head.

"Well who wouldn't be Mr. I save the world on a weekly basis."Hikari said in a mock tone of voice.

"You'd be surprised actually. Anyway where's your sis? I wanted to grab a shower before we left."

"She actually just got out."Hikari replied.

"Awesome."Shinji said as he turned on his heel, and headed down the hall to complete his morning rituals.

After Shinji left, Kodama entered with a towel around her shoulders and her hair still wet , but she was dressed. She was wearing a red tank top with blue shorts that ended right above her knees. She had opted to go without jewelry today.

Hikari was wearing a similar outfit, except her top was a light green along with khaki shorts.

"So where are you and Shinji going today?"Hikari asked, suspicion laced in her voice.

"Nowhere in particular, he simply said he wanted to blow of some steam so I thought a little outing may do him well."She said shrugging her shoulders as she did so.

Hikari seemed pleased with her answer, and let the matter drop. "So what time did you guys get in last night?"Hikari asked. She knew it had to be late since she stayed up until 11:30 waiting for them.

"I'm not sure really, I think it was around 2 or so." She replied as she walked into the kitchen.

Hikari then went back to watching TV. She couldn't really say anything to the girl, she knew she was responsible when she wanted to be, but she knew she wouldn't let anything happen to Shinji.

"So what do you guys have planned for today?"Hikari asked.

Kodama replied quickly, having an alibi thought up beforehand. "Oh not much , I just thought I'd take Shinji out for some fun, he seems really brought down by this whole Misato situation, kind of weird considering what you've told me about her."Kodama replied, her voice going soft at the end.

From what she had heard, Misato was not the most desirable of guardians

"Yea, but you have to understand, Shinji has been through a lot, and he's still come out on top. It's only a matter of time really. Plus it's not like he doesn't have us to help him out."

"True, but Shinji seems like the type to dwell on things, and that only hampers the healing process, and you know sooner or later she'll come looking for him."Kodama said as she flipped the channels on the T.V.

Hikari thought about that one. She did know sooner or later either Auska or Misato would come knocking on her door, and at that point there wasn't much she could at that point. It would be up to Shinji to actually stand up for himself.

Hikari leaned back into her seat as the news played in the background on the t v as the conversation died.

"Hey Hikari".Kodama spoke, gaining Hikari's attention.

"Do you like Shinji?"Kodama asked.

Immediately her face was tinted with pink. "What kind of question is that?"Hikari screeched.

"A simple one. It's just I haven't seen you put this much thought into anybody before. Except that Touji boy you're so smitten with. Kodama shot back.

Kodama knew she was treading on untouched ground, but she just wanted to be sure. She knew Shinji was a more than respectable person, who could hold his own. So if she could pair her sister up with a guy like him, she'd do it without a second thought.

She turned her gaze back to her sister who was shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"I wouldn't say I like him in that sense, I like him more like a brother, I just think he needs someone to lean on, and I just felt like I was that person."She said trailing off at the end, as if she was unsure of what to say.

"I don't know, it's too early in the morning to be asking me questions like that."Hikari said as she massaged her temples with one hand and waved her sister away with the other.

"We'll I can wait for an answer."Kodama replied.

"Wait for what?"Shinji said as he came into the living room, fresh out of the shower barefoot and dressed only in a pair of jeans and a simple black t shirt.

Kodama looked up at Shinji, his eyes were starting to regain their youthful vigor, but one could still see

the fatigue in him.

"Nothing, nothing, just some girl talk Shinji."Kodama said with a nervous chuckle.

Shinji didn't look all that convinced, but decided to go with it. Before he could reply there was a buzzing in his pocket.

He flipped open the device and spoke. "Hello?"

"_Shinji? Are you ok? I heard Misato busted you and you left the house."_Ritsoko's voice hailed through the phone.

"I'm fine , and yeeah all of that stuff happened, and before I could control myself I was already on the way out the door."

Ritsuko sighed on the other end of the phone. "S_hinji It's fine. Honestly I wondered when you would walk out of that house with what you have to put up with Misato."_

"Preaching to the choir. But yeah I'm staying with some friends until I can find a place of my own."

"_I hope it's not some one Misato knows because she's been raising all kinds of hell trying to find you."_Ritsuko had received numerous voice mails and texts about the boys where abouts, all of them some what frantic and accusing as well as bashing the scientist for giving the boy access to the drug.

.

_'Still a good idea in my opinion.' _Ritsuko thought to herself.

"_Hell if I know her she'll have section 2 looking for you. I'd say you have about a day or two before she finds you."_Ritsuko said as she lit up a cigarette.

"Damn it."Shinji said in a droning voice as he drug his hand down his face in an agonizing manner.

Shinji knew he would have to face her sooner or latter, but Shinji preferred later.

"Ok I'll nuke that bridge when I come to it, but for right now mi going to try and evade her the best I can."

"_Well good luck, I'll call you and relay any info I get on my end."_

"Alright doc, I'll talk to you later."

"_Bye Shinji."_And with that Shinji hung up, breathing out a sigh as he did so. He turned his head towards Kodama. "Lets go. He simply said before he headed towards the door.

Kodama looked at Hikari and shrugged with a flabbergasted look on her face before she grabbed her purse and left after him.

When the door closed Hikari sat alone on the couch, cross legged and scratching her head. "Man today is going to be weird."

**D.O.D**

Shinji was walking quickly down the stairs, looking around for anything suspicious. He knew that Section 2 could be very slow when it comes to discretion. With Kodama following close behind him, he made his way to his car.

Shinji unlocked the door and got in, starting the car as he closed the door. "Fucking section 2, fucking German brat fuck, fuck, fuck. Shinji growled as he put the car into gear.

Kodama looked on at Shinji. His shoulders were hunched and he was gripping the wheel tightly as he pulled off from his spot.

"Need a cigarette?"Kodama asked as she pulled one out for herself. The boy was obviously pissed and looked slightly homicidal. With that said , she needed to calm him down.

The boy pounded his fist on the console to turn the radio on before taking the offered smoke.**(Stylo-Gorrilaz)**

He flicked his zippo open and puffed on his tobacco, blowing a stream of smoke out of his nose as he switched into another lane.

"So what was that all about?"Kodama asked.

Shinji sighed before speaking

"Well, a friend of mine told me that my former guardian is looking for me, and she's close apparently. Ritsuko said I had a day or two , but I predict with it being Misato that it will be sooner. He said in a dull tone of voice."

Kodama looked at him with sympathy. "What are you going to do?Kodama asked.

"I'll deal with her when she comes, don't worry about it . Let's just have fun today."He said with a smile.

"So where are we going?"He asked.

"That's a surprise, you just drive, I'll tell you where to go."She said with a mischievous look on her face.

"Awwww crap."Shinji replied.

**D.O.D**

Kodama had led Shinji all through downtown towards what was simply known as the heights. It was a collection of various stores that dealt in different things. It was a modern Bazaar of sorts.

"Keep your eyes closed."Kodama said as she held her hands over Shinji's eyes. Leading him through the market of Stores and shops.

"Where are we going, I had better not be in a strip club when I open my eyes." Shinji said out loud.

"Oh hush boy, nobodies going to drag you into a strip club."Kodama said rolling her eyes. _' Yet anyway.'_ She thought to herself.

Kodama smiled as she thought of the look on the boy's face when he realized what they would be doing today, she snickered at the thought.

"Ok Shinji open your eyes."Kodama said as she removed her hands from Shinji's sight.

Shinji's eyes immediately started sending neural information to Shinji's brain , witch was deciphered as a medium sized building with various art pieces drawn all over it in dark blues, blacks, greens and reds as well. On top of the building was a sign that read "Taboo"

Shinji was confused for a while until he was pushed from his back into the store. Shinji's face hit the door with a meaty thump as he pushed it open.

He seemed to be in the lobby of the building. The room was painted a royal purple, the walls decorated with various framed pictures and portraits.

Shinji whirled around with fire in his eyes as he glared down Kodama who was looking at him with an innocent, puppy eyed look.

Shinji responded with a deep animalistic growl.

"Wow some one call the pound on this one."A voice rang out.

Shinji turned around to see a tall woman with long blonde hair in her mid 20's dressed in a pair of boots , jeans, and a green shirt with short sleeves. Shinji had to admit, the woman was beautiful.

She had jade green eyes. She was of average build, having certain 'assets that would appeal to any man.

From her neck to the tips of her fingers the woman was inked in tattoos, various works of art , that were all detailed and blended together so well , they immediately caught Shinji's eye.

Shinji suspected she had more tattoos, in more intimate places, but Shinji was not that bold yet.

"Wow you just walk right in the door and start checking me out don't you."She said as she leaned on the counter she was behind with her elbow, supporting her self with her hand as she gave Shinji a curious look.

Shinji was a bit put off by her posture and actions, but being experienced with women who were weird as shit, he handled it accordingly.

"No ma'am I just like to sample a bit of eye candy when I see it."Shinji said with a wolfish grin.

The woman was obviously put of guard , but smiled any way. "Ahem , so is this the kid you called about today Kodama?"She said to the girl who had been observing the two.

"Yup , this is Shinji. ."

"Nice to meet you."

"So you're the great Shinji Ikari huh? I've heard a lot about you kid. I was actually surprised that Kodama knew somebody such as yourself. Oh and the name is Kate." She said with a smile as she jerked her thumb to herself.

"Nice to meet you , but if I may ask...Kodama what in the hell are we doing here."Shinji said with a serious scowl on his face.

Before Kodama could answer, Kate stepped up. "Come with me into the main gallery. I think that will clear things up."She said with a devious twinkle in her eye.

Shinji shuddered but followed the woman, hoping to get some answers with Kodama in tow.

Shinji followed Kate through a doorway line by black curtains with golden pull tie into a large back room.

The room was filled with the sound of buzzing. Everywhere Shinji looked someone was in some type of chair getting tattooed by an artist holding some type of needle apparatus. Artist stations were every where as their artwork too covered the walls of the room.

Shinji gawked as he put 2 and 2 together. "You brought me here for a tattoo?"He said , stressing the word 'tattoo.'.

"Well yeah, I feel like it will be good for you Shinji. I know what you want. You want to be respected and treated as an equal, you just don't know how to express it. What better way too express it than to show it for all the world to see. Kate is a great artist. One of the best in Tokyo 3! So please?"She said sincerely.

Shinji looked at the girl and his heart ached .bad. Not because she was giving him her saddest face, but because he knew she was right. He just wanted people to respect him. _'Respect is earned, so in the end it depends on how far I'm willing to go to get it.' _Shinji thought to himself.

_'Why do I feel like my spontaneous streak is going to get me in trouble?' _Shinji thought before shaking his head, his braid waving behind him.

"Ok Kodama, lets do this before I lose my nerve."Shinji said, fire a light in his eye.

"Ok now that that's settled take a seat here. Kate said, motioning to what looked like a modified dentists' chair.

Shinji took a seat in the comfy chair as Kate rolled up to him on a stool with a pencil and large pad of paper."So do you have any idea of what you want kid?"Kate said.

Shinji thought hard before speaking. "Well I want it on my arm, but I only want it to come just past my elbow."

"So a quarter sleeve?"Kate asked pointing to a diagram near her station that described various tattoo jargon.

"Yeah but other than that I don't know."Shinji said baffled. "It really sucks I have to think this shit up on the spot like this. I blame you Kodama."He said crossing his arms and huffing in the chair.

"Yeah I have to say Kodama that is pretty shitty to have something on you the rest of your life that you thought up spontaneously."

"Hey it was supposed to be a surprise , bite me!"Kodama replied gruffly.

Shinji huffed in frustration.

He looked around the tops of the room at all of the artwork posted on the wall. Shinji started scanning the wall for things he thought would work for him.

"Kate, come here for a sec."Shinji said, waving the artist over. As she came forth he leaned in and whispered in her ear, pointing to spots on the walls as he did so.

Kodama tried to listen, but she was out of earshot, and she couldn't see where exactly Shinji was pointing, so he could end up with a tramp stamp for all she knows.

_'God that would be a disaster.' _She thought to herself.

Kodama was brought out of here musings when Kate backed away from Shinji and nodded.

"I'm pretty sure I can pull that off."She grabbed her sketch pad and started scribbling. You could immediately see the cogs in her mind turned as she drew up Shinji's request, adding her own unique style to it as she went.

Kate was indeed one of the best in Tokyo 3 and she had yet to have a dissatisfied customer. All of her works were grade A and flowed evenly. And from what she knew of Shinji, it would be bad ass.

Kate finished up the last details of her rough draft and showed it to Shinji, angling the board so that only Shinji could see.

Shinji felt his mouth tug into a smirk as he saw what would soon be in his flesh. "Perfect."He simply said.

Shinji took off his shirt to allow Kate complete access to his right arm.

"Alright kid, it might hurt at first."She said as she snapped on her gloves and got her needle ready.

"Don't worry I'm used to it."He said as he stared at the ceiling as the needle neared his flesh.

**D.O.D**

Misato drummed her hands on the kitchen table that she was currently living at. She had gotten no other reports of Shinji's where about. She ran her hands through her purple locks and let out a sigh,

She had not slept since Shinji left, to her pot head or not , he was still family. So she started up a city wide search for him, but with next to no results. She had went to all of the first places she thought he would go. Touji's house, Kensuke's house, even the train station , but alas she found nothing.

"He really went under the radar this time, the only hope I really have now is if he shows up at school, and I'm pretty sure he knows that as well."Misato spoke, before she leaned back in her chair.

"Why are you trying so hard to find that baka."Auska's voice rang from the kitchen doorway.

Misato narrowed her eyes at the girl as she took a seat at the table across from Misato. Misato took around the kitchen. It had only been gone a day and a half and the kitchen was already destroyed.

_'That goes double for the living room.' _ Misato thought.

"Why are you so focused on what I do? Don't you have more important things to do with your life?"Misato asked gruffly. If Shinji was right about one thing it was Auska's attitude.

"I just don't want a drug addict living under the same roof as me."Auska replied in a condescending tone.

Misato felt her eye twitch with anger . She swallowed slowly before she spoke. "Auska, you really need to watch what you say right now, because I will have your ass out on t he street so quick your pretty red head will be spinning."She said in a low tone of voice that made Auska's hair stand on end.

"I just want to find him so I can try to see where he's at right now or if he's ok . If he wants to live on his own he's old enough now that he can make that choice. I just want to talk to him , that's all."Misato said, as she got up.

It was at that moment that her phone rang from he jacket that was on the back of her chair. She grabbed it and flipped it open.

"Hello?"She asked.

Auska heard a male voice, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"Thanks."She said before hanging up.

She then turned her head to Auska.

"We got a lead on Shinji."

**D.O.D**

After about an hour and a half, Kate had finished Shinji's tat. But because he wanted Kodama to squirm, he had made her wait in the lobby, and had Kate put a large bandage on it.

"Ok so your going to want to avoid scratching it for a few weeks, and you have to put lotion on it for about 2 weeks so the ink can set in completely. Kate instructed as she walked him into the lobby.

"Thanks Kate. Shinji said as he reached for his wallet. "So how much do I owe you?

"1800 yen."She simply said.

Shinji's eyes bugged out. "What the hell? Are you kidding me?Shinji asked.

"Yup, and it's non negotiable."She said with a smile.

Shinji laughed at her and handed her a few bills.

"Come back anytime if you want to get some more work done. They say it all begins with one you know."

"We'll see how this one grows on me first. Until then I don't think I want to add anymore."

"Please, my ink is like heroin. Once you get a taste you'll come back for more."Kate said cryptically.

"Ok, we will see about that one."Shinji said scratching the back of his head. "Kodama you ready?"

"Yeah lets head home." She replied, getting out of her seat.

"It was nice meeting you Kate." Shinji said over his shoulder as he and Kodama walked out the front door.

Kate stared at the door for a while before heading back to her station.

**D.O.D**

"So what did you get Shinji?" Kodama asked as she followed Shinji.

Shinji pulled out a joint and stuck it into his mouth. He had not smoked all day, plus his arm was extremely irritated from his new tattoo, so he needed something to take the edge off.

He lit the joint with his zippo and took a deep draw from it. "You'll see when we get home."

"Oh you just love keeping me in suspense don't you?" Kodama said folding her arms under her bust.

"Sometimes. It depends on the situation really." Shinji replied as he blew dual streams of smoke from his nose as he reached his car.

"So you want to pick up a movie for tonight?" Kodama asked.

Kodama was met with silence as she looked towards Shinji. Shinji was staring hard at something, very hard. Kodama looked in the direction that the boy was staring and she saw a black van parked in a nearby spot among other cars in the lot.

"Kodama , get in the car." Shinji said calmly without moving, with the exception of him smoking his joint.

Kodama asked no questions and quickly got into the car, Shinji following her.

Shinji wasted no time in starting the car. Burning out in reverse from his spot, he spun the car around in a j turn before shifting into first.

"You might want to put your seat belt on." Shinji said as he started accelerating out of the parking lot and onto the main street. Shinji knew he wasn't paranoid. That was a section 2 van, which means he will probably have a lead on his tail at this very moment.

Shinji looked in his rear view mirror to see that there were indeed 2 black sedans following him.

"Oh my god they must take me for a damn fool. As if I couldn't spot black in broad fucking daylight. Ugh, still I better lose them if I want Misato off my trail." Shinji thought out loud.

"Shinji, do you think you can lose them?" Kodama asked.

"Dunno, lets find out!" He said with a viscous grin on his face.

Shinji hit the radio, turning it on once again. **(Given Up- Linkin park)**

Shinji sped up as he drew more smoke from his dwindling joint, the ash fluttering out the open window as he weaved in and out of traffic. He took another look at his rear view mirror before shifting into third.

"Let's see if you bastards can do 90." Shinji said as he accelerated.

The sedans responded in turn and sped up as well, keeping up with Shinji the best they could. For once section 2 was doing good at something. Every move he made they kept up with, and he knew if they got in front of him he was screwed.

"Oh now you guys want to be useful for some thing."Shinji growled as they got right up behind him. The first of the two cars was right on Shinji's tail as he sped on , his exhaust loud and angry.

The black sedan continued to make haste and tapped the back of Shinji's car, rattling him slightly.

"Ah hell no!" Shinji said as he corrected the slight wobble. He then weaved in front of a big white van before quickly braking and swinging the car quickly around a corner into a side street, smoke lifting from out of the back of the vehicle from the sheer friction of the tires on the pavement.

The white van slammed on his brakes and honked his horn angrily. The sedans were behind the van causing them to slam on their brakes as well.

Shinji looked in his rear view again only to find that the sedans were still on his trail, and dangerously close.

"Ok fuck this, I tried to be nice."Shinji said as he reached over Kodama's lap and into the glove compartment.

"Shinji what are you doing, why do you have a gun.?" She said as he revealed his Glock 21.

"Oh nothing, you might want to close your ears." Shinji said as he tossed his roach out of the window.

Shinji suddenly jerked the wheel sideways to the left as well as simultaneously downshifting, causing the tires to screech as the car drifted sideways and around before Shinji shifted into reverse.

Shinji stuck his left arm out of the window. He took a a calming breath and gripped the pistol firmly before he pulled the trigger several times in quick succession.

The gun thundered in his hand. Rubber bullets impacting their wind shields, effectively splintering them into shards.

Both cars slammed on their brakes, giving Shinji the chance to swerve onto another street.

Shinji down shifted, toning down the roar of his engine. He stopped at a red light and looked behind him, checking if the coast was clear.

"Ok , I think we should be ok." He said as he situated himself back in his seat. **(End song)**

"You ok Kodama." He asked looking over to the girl.

Kodama was stiff as a board. Hair wild and frizzled with a terrified look on her face. Her eye was twitching slightly, but other than that she was fine.

"Kodama?"

"What the hell where you thinking!" Kodama burst out, thrusting her arms in the air.

"That I wanted to get the hell away from them. And you shouldn't be complaining, at least you don't have glass embedded in your face ." Shinji said as he slumped into his seat with a pout.

Kodama grunted at the boy. "So what your that scared of Misato that you will actually shoot at some one if they try to take you to her!"

Shinji's eyes opened wide before he responded angrily. "Hell yea. I'll talk to her on my own terms .Meaning when I feel like it. What you think Im scared of her!" Shinji angrily retorted.

"Could have fooled me." Kodama said as she tried to tame her hair.

"Oh no, hell no. I am not afraid of Misato and that's final." He said as the light turned green.

Shinji shifted into first and drove forward. "Oh and just so you know." He said as he ejected the clip into Kodama's lap. "Those are rubber bullets. I couldn't have killed them even if I wanted too. Like I said I just wanted them to leave me alone." Shinji said.

Kodama was shocked. Not only did he out maneuver 2 trained agents, but he managed to create a distraction long enough to get away. _'Seems like there's more to you than I know.' _Kodama thought to herself as her gaze fell upon the lad in question.

Shinji pulled off from his spot as the light turned green. He lazily moved down the street as he looked at the citizens and shops he passed. It was almost dark , so the night side of the city was starting to show it's face.

He saw various people dressed up for either a night in the club, bar, or both even. _'I need to get out more.' _ Shinji thought to himself as he saw a group of scantily dressed girls walking on the side walk, more than likely to have a night on the town.

Shinji turned his gaze back to the street .He felt his body relax as his heart finally start to slow down from his little car chase. He felt himself intake and expel air as he got his jitters under control.

He reached into his pocket to retrieve his pill bottle. He popped the top off of it and pulled out his last joint. His eyes widened slightly.

"Damn it." He said as he put it in his mouth and threw the bottle out of the window. He would need to pick up some more from either Ritsuko or Kaji.

"What's wrong, we're being chased by an attack copter now?" Kodama said sarcastically as she folded her arms under her chest.

Shinji shot Kodama a glare. "No if that were the case we would be fine." He said as he poised his elbow onto the window sill of his door.

"And why is that?" Kodama inquired.

"Because I have a nice moving decoy on hand at the moment." He said without missing a beat. Taking a drag of his joint as he did so.

Kodama's face was scrunched in confusion._'Moving decoy...'_ Her eyes widened.

"Hey!" She yelled as she punched Shinji in his shoulder. He burst out in laughter with Kodama doing the same.

"So are we good?" He asked.

Kodama sighed."Yeah we're fine, just next time find a better way to deal with it."

"What I like to be blunt." He said letting his words hang in the air.

"Oh you are just a comedian aren't you?" Kodama asked.

"No not really just your resident robot pilot/ get away driver/ butler." He said with a quirky smile.

"You should put that on a business card."

"Maybe. It make one hell of a conversation piece."

Shinji then pulled out his cell phone and punched in a speed dial. The phone rung for a moment before the line was picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Ritsuko , I have a small problem.I'm out" Shinji said nervously.

The ciggarette the scientist had in her mouth promptly fell out._"Damn, I hadn't expected you to go through it that fast honestly. Hmmmmmm can you make a stop by my office?" _She asked.

"No problem, I'll be there in 15." He said.

"_See you then." _ Shinji closed the phone and put it away. He turned to Kodama.

"I have to make a quick stop and then we'll pick up a movie and head home. I know Hikari is probably worried." He said.

"Yeah and I know Nozomi is just dying to ask you questions about being an EVA pilot." Kodama mocked as she snickered.

"Your laughing but I plan to be stoned all night, so it really won't make that much of a difference to me." He said as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Touche."

**D.O.D**

Shinji was walking with Kodama in tow back to his car parked in NERV's underground garage. He had quickly met with Ritsuko and gotten his goodies. He took out the new , bigger pill bottle. He opened the top and peered inside and grabbed one.

He took it and ran the side under his nose, smelling it's quality. He felt his nose tingle at it's sweet smell. Ritsuko told him that she had to up the anty a bit a gave him a stronger strain. Something called Kush. _'Strange name if you ask me.' _He thought to himself.

"So you good now?" Kodama asked.

Shinji smiled and tucked the bottle into his pocket. "Yeah i'm fine, now if I could just take care of this Misato issue." He said with his head cast down ward.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a pack of ciggarettes he also received from Ritsuko. She looked at him funny when he asked, but complied any way.

He retrieved one with his teeth and lit it with his zippo.

"So I guess we'll pick up a movi-."

"Shinji Ikari!" The garage echoed.

Shinji whirled his head around behind him quickly.

Standing a scant 6 feet away from him was Misato along with Auska. His heart jumped into his throat as he felt uncertainty well up within him.

"Well now or never I guess." He said under his breath as he walked forward, Smoking his ciggarette as he did so."Stay here." He said to Kodama.

"Hey Misato." He said simply as he approached her. He nodded at Auska . "Demon." He greeted.

A snarl appeared on her face. She was poised to leap before Misato put her arm out , stopping her cold.

"Shinji where are you staying?" Misato asked.

"With some friends of mine." He replied without missing a beat. He dabbed some ash off to his side, Misato watching his every move.

"Oh and thanks for the boys in black, as if my day wasn't full of enough excitement." He said sarcastically as he took a long drag off of his tobacco.

"I had to try some way to find you Shinji. You weren't answering your phone and your buddy Ritsuko wouldn't pick up the phone either. You had completely dropped off of the map!"

Shinji turned his head to the side as he blew another torrent of smoke out of his nose. "Well you wanted me out of the house right?" He asked.

"No!" She replied.

"Then what was it." He pressed.

Misato shifted at that, her eyes filled with uncertainty. "Shinji, I didn't want you to leave. I just thought you would just lock yourself in your room and smoke that crap all day. I didn't want it to make you just shut us out completely! That's what it does right? Distracts you from the issues around you ?"

Shinji took the cigarette from his lips. He reached into his pocket and quickly tossed something at Misato.

Her reflexes kicked in as she caught a dark grey object. Misato looked at the object in her hand, it was Shinji's SDAT player.

Misato looked at him in confusion, her face urging him to explain.

"That's my vice. I can put that thing in and not worry about anything that was bothering me . But that was the problem. It's like you said I was ignoring everything and not actually dealing with it, so I could never really move on from the mistakes I've made. Shinji opened up as Misato, Kodama, and even Auska listened on.

"Do you know what I've been doing since I actually started? I actually walk with my head up now. I have dealt with what's been bothering me and come to terms with my life, with the exception of you and satan jr over there."

"Grrrrrrr" Auska growled.

"Shut up." Shinji said as he pointed a finger at her before continuing.

"Now, do you want me around as a pot head, because I'm afraid that's what I am at the moment. It's not a vice per say , just a hobby." He said simply.

Misato was in shock. Since Shinji had moved in with her she could never get him to talk about anything so excessively! He had always dodged around the question , or ignored it out right. _'Maybe …...'_

"Will you move back in if I say yes?" She asked.

Shinji looked at Misato then to Auska. His dark blue orbs pierced her sapphire ones. Never had she seen his gaze so intense.

"Let me think about it." He said simply and turned his back and started walking towards his car.

Misato watched as he walked away, his braid swinging side to side as he did so.

"Shinji." She said as she gripped his SDAT player.

Shinji got into the car with Kodama right behind him. He quickly started the car and pulled out of his parking spot.

Tires squealed as he made a hard right turn towards the exit.

Kodama could tell Shinji was torn on the inside._ 'He wants to but he just doesn't want to deal with Auska. Can't say I blame him.' _She thought to herself. She let Shinji think through his problems as he drove.

**D.O.D**

Hikari was sitting on the couch with Nozomi. Ever since the girl had arrived home she had been eagerly awaiting Shinji's arrival, glancing from the TV to the door every time she heard the slightest of noises.

The sound of the door opening finally reached the young girl's ears. "Shinji!" She squealed as he appeared in the living room, 3 boxes of pizza in one hand and a brown bag in the other. Kodama came in soon after and plopped herself on the couch next to Hikari.

She jumped off of the couch and ran to him. "How was your day."

"It was ok. I brought home a pizza, I thought you girls would be hungry." He said with a smirk. "Just let me go change and I'll be out." He said

The young girl nodded vigorously as he walked by.

Hikari noticed he had a very distant look in his eyes despite his smile.

Hikari looked at Kodama "So what happened today?" Hikari asked.

"We had a run in with Misato and Auska." She said simply.

Hikari's eyes widened. "Wow so what happened?"

Kodama told Hikari what happened. Shocking the girl with some of Shinji's actions.

"Well at least Auska can't call him spineless anymore." Hikari said.

"Damn straight." Shinji said from behind he couch.

The two girls almost screamed. Hikari wanted to yell at Shinji but Kodama beat her too it.

"Fuck man that's creepy, didn't your mom ever tell you not to sneak up on people?" Kodama screeched.

"My mom died when I was 4 so no i'm afraid I didn't get that memo." He said as he flipped over the couch, seating himself between the two girls. He had redressed himself in a plain t shirt and black basketball shorts.

Both of the girls flinched at his tone of voice. He hadn't been mean with his words, his voice just sounded so...empty.

"Are you ok Shinji?" Hikari asked.

"We'll talk later, the walls have ears." He said confusing the two other occupants until they looked in front of him.

There seated behind the coffee table across from Shinji was Nozomi, eyes glittering with joy.

_'Fuck.' _Shinji thought to himself as he got up and went to the kitchen. "Some body had better get in here before I eat all the food." Shinji yelled from the kitchen.

"He wouldn't" Hikari said.

"The hell I won't!" Shinji spoke with a mouth full of food.

The girls hustled into the kitchen and quickly made their own plate and sat at the table.

"Thanks Shinji." Hikari said as she sat down.

"Thank you Shinji." Nozomi said.

"No problem, now I hear some one has some questions to ask me." He said to Nozomi.

"I do. What's it like to pilot an Eva?" She asked before taking a bite out of her slice.

Shinji shifted his right arm before speaking. "It's kinda like putting on a glove, except for your whole body I guess." Shinji replied shrugging his shoulders.

"Is it fun?"

"Not really. But it's something I had to do." Shinji spoke.

"Why do you do it then?" She spoke.

"That's kind of personal." Shinji said trying not to scratch his shoulder. _'Damn this thing itches.' _He thought to himself.

Unfortunately for him Hikari noticed his trouble. _'What's he hiding_

"Nozomi I think that's enough for now, I'm pretty sure Shinji has to get up early for school." Hikari said.

"Awwwww." She said as she pouted at her sister.

"That's not gonna work. Now throw your plate away and get to sleep, Shinji's not the only one who has to go to school in the morning."

The girl grumbled under her breath , but complied with her sisters wishes. "Night Nozomi." Shinji said.

"Night Shinji." And the girl disappeared into the confines of her room.

"Cute kid." Shinji said as he took another bite of his pizza.

She watched as the sleeves of his T-shirt lift up revealing his banage. Hikari chose this time to speak

"Shinji what happened to your shoulder?" She asked.

"Oro?" He said with a mouthful of pizza.

"Your arm, you have a bandage on your arm." She said pointing to his arm.

"Did you hurt yourself?" She asked.

"No."

"Then what?" She pressed.

Shinji sighed and pulled his arm out of his shirt, revealing his bandaged shoulder. He tore the bandages off and revealed his inked skin. On his shoulder was a diamond shaped shield with Kanji for strength emblazoned sharply on the front. A single combat dagger was placed in the background of it, but it didn't stop there.

On the back of his arm ran an angel wing with feather's drawn in great detail along the length of the back of his arm, going just past his elbow. . Shinji could feel their eyes roaming over his flesh.

"So what do you think?" He asked.

Hikari scooted closer and ran her hand over his raised skin." I can't say I approve , but I have to admit it is nice. It fits you well." She said with a smile.

" I agree." She could see that Kate took her time with it from the detail she saw.

"So what happened with you and Misato." Hikari asked.

Shinji grunted. "We talked, she asked me to come back, and I said I would think about it." Shinji said as he reached down into the brown bag he had brought in earlier. He retrieved a bottle of Bacardi and set it on the table.

Hikari shot him a look.

"What I'll share."

Hikari face palmed.

"I'll get some glasses." Kodama said getting up from her chair.

"So are you going to?" Hikari inquired.

Shinji caught his glass ass Kodama slid it to him. He poured himself a glass a took a swig before speaking.

"I would , but there's a problem." He said before taking another gulp. He felt his chest warm as the alcohol burned down his throat.

"Auska?"

"Yup." Kodama said as she poured herself a drink.

_'Can't say I blame him, she is somewhat difficult to deal with at times.' _

"We'll you could try talking to her, I know you think it wouldn't do much good, but at least you could say you tried."

Shinji nodded his head. "True." He took another swig. "I might need some of this before hand." He said as an after thought.

Kodama chuckled and Hikari folded her arms under her chest. "What am I going to do with you Shinji?" She asked out loud.

Shinji shrugged his shoulders as he raised his drink to his lips.

**BANG!**

Shinji stopped mid sip as he heard footsteps pounding on the carpet.

"The fuck?" Shinji said As three figures rushed into his view.

**Cliff hanger! Yeah I know I'm evil. Tune in to see whothese mystery men are!**


	7. Night Brawlers Daze

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of it's characters. All rights go to Gainax and it's creators.

Shinji looked at the three people who had barged into his substitute home. The one on the far left looked to be American. He was in his late teens,average build ,and had green eyes and freckles with a mop of red hair dressed in blue jeans and a white v neck. But the weird thing was that he couldn't seem to stay still, his eyes darted all around him with nervousness as he scratched the side of neck with his hands.

On the far right was a taller guy about 6,1. He was dressed in grey shorts and a red T shirt.

He looked to be of Korean decent but had vague American features .He had brown hair and an athletic build. His shoulders were wide and taut, along with his chest, both of which stretching his shirt to it's limits .Shinji wondered how much it would hurt to be hit by him.

_'A lot probably' _Shinji thought to himself as he noticed the man in the middle. It was Koichi, and he looked pissed.

"Well what do we have here? Having dinner?" Koichi asked with an overly sweet tone.

"No where just sitting here waiting for the door to get kicked in so some asshole can barge in." Shinji said.

"You ." Koichi growled as he made his way around the table towards Shinji.

Shinji waited for Koichi to make his way around so he could make his move, but he didn't get the chance.

"Koichi what are you doing here!" Kodama yelled as she got up and pushed Koichi away. How did he even find her? '_The son of a mob boss, of course.' _She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Kodama put herself in the middle of the two males as Koichi tried to push his way past her. He stepped back and pulled out a pistol from behind his back. Hikari gasped as he leveled it at her sister's chest.

"Well firstly Im here to pay that little shit back for getting in my way. Now move out of my way!" He yelled as his grip tensed on the pistol.

Shinji grimaced as Hikari squealed again and cupped her mouth with his hands as Kodama stood her ground. Shinji felt his heart race as Kodama showed no signs of moving.

He didn't know what Koichi was planning exactly, but he knew it had something to do with Kodama. He had to buy time.

Shinji reached into his pocket for his cigarettes,causing Koichi to turn the gun onto him. Shinji was not fazed and continued to light himself a cigarette.

"So you came here for the sole purpose of getting revenge, not the most original thing I've ever heard of ,but I can understand."

He pulled on his drink for a long time as his eyes bored into Koichi's. "But what I find hilarious personally, is the part where you pay me back for getting in your way."

"And why is that?" Koichi asked with a sneer on his face. Shinji's heart was racing , his mouth was dry and hot. On the outside he was cold as stone, but on the inside a war was raging. On one side his will to fight versus with the other being his fear.

And neither was giving an inch.

He took a swig of his drink to allay his nerves before he spoke. "Because last time you had two guys , this time you have two guys, and unless you plan on killing us all I doubt you plan on using that gun."

"See that's where your wrong. Last time those guys were just low rank body guards my dad hired on the spot and dressed them up. But these two." He said jerking his hand behind him. "These two are on a completely different level of fighting."

"Koji over there used to be a pro boxer before he got kicked out of the league for his viscous fighting style. What's your best knock out time again Koji." He asked over his shoulder to the right to the man now identified as Koji.

"a minute and a half I believe." The Koji said in a thoughtful tone of voice.

"And Van over there isn't really much usually, but when he shoots up he's the strongest guy around!" Koichi grinned." So you see, you really don't have a chance of getting out of this in one piece, once they get their hands on you" He boasted.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd rather paint your brains all over the wall , but this way is just less messy." He said shrugging.

"So a boxer and a super junkie of some sort. Yes this is difficult indeed." He thought out loud as he dabbed ash on the table for lack of an ashtray.

"Shinji not on the table, my dad will kill me!" Hikari screamed.

"Hikari, there is a man with a loaded gun in my face, With two other guys that are about to tear me apart. and your worried about the table... were going to talk about this later." He said as he palmed his face in what could be described as agony.

"No you won't, because you wont have any teeth when we're through with you." Koji said.

"And then me an Kodama-chan can get more acquainted." Koichi said lecherously while Koji and van made their way farther into the kitchen towards Shinji.

_'Show time.' _

Shinji hurled his glass at Koichi with all of the strength his right arm could muster. The now empty glass shot across the air, smashing right up against the distracted Koichi's face. He screamed to the top of his lungs as he dropped the gun, needing both of his hands to try to pull out the glass embedded in his face.

Shinji hopped up on top of the table, grabbing his bottle of Bacardi with him. With his cigarette hanging from his lips he leapt and kicked Koichi square in in the chest. The man fell to the ground with Shinji still standing on top of him.

Fueled by adrenaline and rum, Shinji turned and swung as hard as he could and broke the Bacardi bottle over the top of Van's head, showering him with glass and liquor. Shinji then spat his still lit cigarette at him, igniting the flammable liquid that was on his head.

"AAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH MY FACE." He yelled as he dropped to the ground, rolling around trying to put his face out.

Shinji turned around to receive a blow to the face from Koji that sent him falling straight onto his face.

"Yup that's what I thought, hurts like a bitch." Shinji said as he got up and onto his feet. He spit out a loogie of blood before Koji continued to advance on him.

"Oh trust me it's going to hurt a lot more." Koji said as he advanced on him.

He threw a punch, only to have Shinji duck under and over it. Koji saw him pull back for a punch, he brought up his guard only to receive a low kick to the inside of his left knee.

He grimaced at the pain as his form went side ways ,but he recovered in time to block a right hook from Shinji before he counter attacked with a blow to Shinji's ribs.

_'Damn he's fast.' _Shinji thought as he winced , but he pushed through it as he dodged an oncoming blow from the boxer. He swung his torso under the blow, coming up two deliver a two punch combo to Koji's face.

He followed up with a kick to the shin, before dodging another blow from Koji, the liquor in his system dulling the pain from his ribs.

He blocked another one of Koji's punches, his fore arm stinging from the impact. Shinji then lashed out with his foot, kicking the man square in his midsection as well as creating some distance.

Koji grunted from the blow. "Slippery bastard!" He yelled.

Shinji blocked Koji's right fist with his fore arm and started to hammer his fist into the side of his temple as hard as he could, his blows more feral from the alcohol in his system.

Koji went down to the ground by the fifth punch that Shinji had drilled into his head, breathing heavily as he saw movement in his peripheral vision. He whirled around to see Nozomi standing in the frame of the entryway to the back hallway.

"Shinji?" She said in a sleepy voice as she rubbed her eye.

"It's ok Nozomi, just go back to sleep." Shinji replied in a calm voice.

" Ok." She said and turned around sleepily and headed back to her room as she was told.

Shinji blew out a sigh of relief. He turned around to see Koichi getting up ,gun in hand. His eyes widened as Koichi aimed the shiny , big gun towards him.

"Oh shi-"

**BANGBANGBANG**

Shinji had quickly dove behind the couch for cover. The bullets tore through the leather couch, sending shreds of cotton and fabric into the air.

The room was still as Koichi stopped firing. A thin trail of gun smoke coming from the barrel of his pistol. He heard no noise from the other side of the room.

His face throbbed with pain from the glass Shinji had threw at him. He ignored it and turned and kicked

Koji who was laid out near his left foot.

"Van get your lazy ass up and get the girl so we can get the hell out of this place." Koichi said to the main who was still nursing his charred face.

Van pushed himself from off of the floor and started towards Kodama as he was ordered, as blood trailed straight down his throbbing face.

Van hauled Kodama onto his shoulder, struggling slightly as she kicked and screamed as loud as she could. She was in a complete frenzy, her fists roughly pounding his back.

Hikari was frozen in her seat with fear as the man walked out of the kitchen with her sister hauled over his left shoulder.

"Hurry up, I'm pretty sure some one heard those gunshots." Koichi yelled at Koji, the man responding by getting up with a bit of stumble, his head pounding from Shinji's blows.

With his crew and Kodama gathered, the group made their way to the door, but were confused to see a tall, pony tailed haired man standing in the doorway, a cold expression adorning his face.

"Who the hell-"

**BANG**

Koichi hit the ground screaming as Kaji had quickly drawn his handgun and fired off a round into the young mans right kneecap.

"Boss!" Van yelled as he glared at the man who now had the barrel pointing directly in between the man's eyes.

"I wouldn't if I were you, but what I would do if I were you is drop the girl, grab your boss here, and haul his sorry ass out of here before I decide to give you all matching holes." He said as he narrowed his eyes, cocking the hammer back on his pistol.

"What are you doing!Don't just stand there like fucking statues, kill him already!" Koichi yelled as he clutched his bloodied right knee with both hands.

Kaji glared at Koichi.

**BANG**

"And when it comes to lead Im not particularly stingy." He said, steel lining the edge of his voice.

"Fuck!" Koichi yelled as Kaji shot out his other knee.

"Now am I just going to have to keep pumping lead into your boy here, or are you guys going to get your ass in gear and get the hell out." Kaji said indifferently.

Van an Koji looked at their howling, crippled boss. Van slowly put Kodama down onto her feet.

But as soon as Kodama firmly planted her feet firmly on the ground, she launched a right hook straight into Van's jaw. Inadvertently knocking his had against the wall of the hallway.

"I don't like being touched!" She yelled as Van slid down the wall onto the floor, clutching his even more damaged face.

Kaji nodded in approval at the girls actions. "With that , I think it's time for you gentleman to leave."

"Van, help me get the boss and let's just get the hell out of here."

"My face hurts!" He yelled in pain.

"I don't give a shit, if you don't get your junkie ass over here Im going to make a whole lot more hurt!" Koji raged at the smaller man.

With some effort, he helped Koji pick up Koichi, the latter still yelling at his current state.

Kaji moved out of the way when they came toward him, tensing his grip on his pistol as he kept it trained on Koichi's head.

Kaji closed the door as best he could with it being broken. He turned around to see Kodama. She was holding the sides of her arms as she looked up to the unshaven man.

"You should call someone to get that fixed." He said with a smile, before he returned his gun to his shoulder holster.

"Ok who are you and where did you come from." Kodama said as she narrowed her eyes.

"Woah , whoa, just calm down. I'm a friend of Shinji."

Her eyes widened. "Shinji!" The girl screamed before she turned quickly on her heel, her hair swinging around in a flurry as she took of to where the boy was downed.

She made it to the bullet ridden couch and stopped, she covered her mouth with her left hand as she drew closer, feeling tears at the edges of her eyes as she saw the numerous holes in the couch.

Before they claimed her, she threw away her fears and moved forward, determined to make sure he was ok.

She approached slowly as she saw Shinji splayed out unconscious near the coffee table.

She gasped She was quickly at his side, rolling him over and checking him for any obvious wounds.

"Shinji, wake up Shinji!" She screamed at the boy.

He stirred and shifted, his eyes blinking open, focusing in on his surroundings. "What?" He said drowsily.

"Shinji are you ok?"

"I'd be fine if you'd stop yelling, geez my head is killing me." He said as he pulled himself from the girl's arms, sitting himself upright as he scratched his head.

Shinji turned to the girl and saw tears brimming at the edges of her eyes as she looked at him.

_'She was worried about me.' _ He thought with a smile.

An impressed whistle reached Shinji's ears as he turned his head in the direction of it's origin.

"Wow , somebody did a number in this place." Kaji said as he surveyed the living room. There was shattered glass all over the floor where Shinji smashed van over the head with his Bacardi bottle, staining the carpet in alcohol and blood.

He looked over to the couch and saw the numerous bullet holes in the couch.

"Anyone want to clue me in on what went on in here?'" Kaji asked.

"Hikari you ok?" Shinji said ignoring the man's question.

"Y...Yea" The girl hesitantly replied.

Shinji nodded and got to his feet, wobbling on his legs slightly. He made his way into the Kitchen to see Hikari still frozen in her seat, pupils dilated in fear.

He walked over and laid a soft hand upon her shoulder, shocking her out of her fear induced haze.

"You sure you ok Hikari?" He asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm... fine." She repeated.

Shinji didn't seem convinced, but let it go. He walked over to where he was seated previously and grabbed a cigarette from the pack. He opened his zippo and lit it with a shaky hand before inhaling.

He sat down as he saw Kaji and Kodama walk into the kitchen.

"So you wanna tell me what happened." Kaji asked again.

Shinji blew a stream of smoke out of his nose."Well..."

**D.O.D**

Kaji was standing slack jawed as Shinji finished his tale. He told him everything from the bar encounter up until that night.

" And then when I jumped over the couch,I hit my head on the coffee table and blacked out, and that's when you and Kodama came in." Shinji concluded.

"Well I'd say you'd had one hell of a night." Kaji said shaking his head with a smile.

"What?" Shinji asked quirking his eyebrow.

"I just never thought you of all people would try to fight three people at once."

"Well honestly I didn't think I would ever have to." Shinji replied taking another drag off of his cig.

"You never do, not until the situation calls for it." Kaji said as he glanced at Kodama and Hikari. _'He must really care for these girls, to put up such a fight.' _Kaji thought to himself.

"Well , I better get going. It's late and I better get some shut eye before work in the morning." Kaji said standing up.

"Damn!" Shinji cursed.

"What's wrong?" Kodama asked.

"I have to go to school tomorrow." He said dragging his hand down his face in an agonizing manner.

Kaji chuckled. "Well good night, and it'd be wise to get your door fixed." He said before making his way out.

Shinji was left in silence as he could feel the girls' eyes on him.

He sighed "I'll call some one at NERV in the morning to come fix it."Shinji said taking another drag.

"Well I'm gonna hit the hay, see you in the morning." Shinji said as he got up and exited the room.


	8. Day of Grey

**Author's Note: Hey guys sorry I have not uploaded in months. I had to prioritize with school and some other side projects I was working on , but things are starting to close out so I will try my best to update once a week. For those waiting on Ikari Unleashed updates(If you like this story I suggest you read it as well), those will be coming soon as well. I think you all for your time and patience and hope you enjoy the read :)**

**Bzzzzzzzzz**

**Bzzzzzzzzz**

"Wha?" A groggy Shinji grunted as his eyes struggled to open as his phone vibrated loudly on the nightstand near his temporary bed.

**Bzzzzzzzzz**

He tried to move his arm to retrieve the offending piece of plastic, but both his arms seemed to be pinned.

Shinji opened his eyes fully, and as they adjusted to the light he realized what the weight had been.

Under the covers on both sides of the young man were two figures nestled against Shinji resting peacefully. Kodama on his right, and Hikari on his left. Both of them curled around each of Shinji's arms like a human teddy bear.

Shinji looked at their faces, they were both sound asleep it seemed. He sighed.

"They must have been scared something else would happen. Way to go Ikari, live with some one for less than a week and get their sense of security completely violated." He whispered under his breath.

He undid himself from the girls and slowly exited the bed. He then walked to the nightstand and retrieved his cell phone .

He turned off his alarm and looked at the time on the bottom of the screen; it was 6:36am. He grunted as he popped his back and threw his phone back onto the night stand.

"I might as well get up now." He said in a flat tone of voice. He walked over to his duffel bag that he placed at the entrance of the room's closet, retrieving his necessary items he made his way into the shower. Closing the door behind him, he turn on the shower and stripped down.

He looked at himself in the mirror. On the right side of his jaw he sported a bruise the size of a baseball with a dark purple color. Matching bruises adorned his forearms and ribs as well.

Basically everywhere he had gotten hit last night. He sighed as he stepped into the shower, it's warm water soothing his aching bones. He turned his neck to the side making it pop, as water slid down his body.

Shinji`s eyes were hard and slightly red, with his lips set in a thin pressed line.

The night's events played in his head. He had started off fine until he hit his head on the coffee table, but what if Kaji hadn't came in, what would have happened...

Shinji shook his head to clear the thoughts scrambling his brain. He bathed, got dressed and groomed himself.

Shinji opened the door , shirtless yet again, and returned to his room.

Hikari was still splayed out under the covers , but Kodama's side was empty.

" She must have woken up to get ready for work. I had better wake Hikari up too."

He went around the right side of the bed and shook her. "Hikari wake up , we have to get ready for school." He spoke softly.

Hikari shifted and groaned, before her eyes slowly opened groggily. "What time is it?" She asked.

"About 7 or so. Kodama's already up , probably went for the shower. I'm going to make breakfast, so you'd better start getting ready and we'll go to school."

"Ok Shinji." She replied rubbing her eyes before getting up to get ready.

**D.O.D**

All four of the house's occupants were in the kitchen. The three girls sitting at the table as Shinji fried eggs in a skillet on the stove.

Kodama was sipping coffee from her mug as she read the paper. Dressed in a knee length blue skirt and matching jacket and blouse, the blouse being a lighter color than the jacket and skirt.

Sizzling was the prevalent noise in the kitchen. Nozomi slowed in her chewing as she looked at everyone's faces as they ate. Everyone being in some form of deep thought.

Shinji broke the silence. "I've been meaning to ask, where is your dad? I've been here for 3 days now and I've yet to see him." Shinji said. He knew Kodama and Hikari were more than able to take care of themselves, but it was weird to him that a father would still leave his 3 daughters all alone.

"Well dad is usually pretty tied up with work , so it's not unusual for him to be gone for long periods of time." Nozomi spoke.

"He's an engineer that helped build the systems that lets the skyscrapers retract into the ground. Even though the angel wars are over, the demand for the technology is rampant world wide. So he's either stuck on designing a new custom system for the buyers specifications , or traveling to the site to make sure it's getting built the correct way" Kodama added.

"He sure does hate when they get it wrong, I thought Auska was bad when she cursed , but I think dad could give her a run for her money. ." Hikari said before taking a bite out of a piece of toast.

Shinji quirked an eyebrow. "He does know I'm here though right?..." Shinji asked.

"I thought I'd let it be a surprise." Kodama said as she flipped to the next page of her newspaper.

Shinji scoffed in an annoyed manner. Kodama quirked an eyebrow at him. _'Who pissed in his cheerios this morning.' _ Kodama thought to herself. She eyed Shinji's posture as he cooked. His stance was aggressive with his shoulders hunched. "Hmmmmm."

Nozomi ,although young, picked up on Shinji's mood as well. Did something happen last night?

"So what was all that noise last night?I remember waking up because I heard some thuds, but my memory could be a little fuzzy." Nozomi said as she scratched her head.

Shinji , Hikari , and Kodama cringed at the same time, Kodama almost choking on her coffee.

Shinji thought fast.

" Oh nothing , just some acquaintances dropped by and got too loud, but I handled it." He said as he turned around flashing the girl a smile.

Hikari and Kodama were sweating profusely as they waited for her response.

"Ok Shinji" She replied with a smile.

Shinji blew out a breath of air as he put the eggs on a plate and placed it on the table with the rest of the food he had cooked.

_'That girl must either be a rock hard sleeper , or she just believes anything I say.' _Shinji thought to himself as he took off his blue apron and sat next to Hikari at the table. He filled his plate up with eggs, bacon and toast. He hadn't made anything too fancy , but the girls seemed to like it none the less.

"So how are you getting to work?" Shinji asked Kodama.

"Vera is giving me a lift to work." Kodama responded. She would have asked Shinji for a ride , but their school and her job are in completely opposite directions.

"How is Nozomi getting to school then?"

"Her bus picks her up down the street from here." Kodama replied as she turned the page of her paper.

"Speaking of which , I had better get going. Thanks for the stimulating conversation." She said as she got up and grabbed her bag from the chair.

"Have a nice day at school Nozomi!" Shinji yelled out of the kitchen before he heard the door shut.

"I wonder how she didn't notice the broken door." Hikari said.

"Or the stains in the carpet and the bullet holes in the couch." Kodama added.

Both of their gazes fell onto an eating Shinji.

He felt their eyes roaming over him, expecting an answer to the unasked question. Shinji wiped his mouth and spoke.

"I sent Ritsuko a text this morning and had some of NERV's maintenance crew come over to fix the door and the bullet holes, but I got the stains out myself." He said in a tired tone of voice . He dug into his pocket and tossed 2 rings of keys onto the table.

"Got the locks changed too. The maintenance tech told me they would hold up past a shotgun blast so I don't think anyone can simply kick it in anymore." He said before he started eating again.

The girls looked at him as his eyes were averted. His shoulders were hunched and his left elbow was on the table as he cradled his head as he ate. The girls could see the dark , purplish bruises on his cheek and arms.

"Are you ok Shinji? Those look like they hurt." Hikari said.

Shinji shrugged." I'm fine, not the first time I got punched in the face, and wont be the last." He said as he finished eating. He got up and deposited his dishes in the sink and went upstairs towards his room.

Kodama looked at Hikari and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked.

"Can't you tell ,it's Shinji. It seems as if he's starting to retreat into his shell." She replied, folding the paper she was reading into a rectangle and placing it flat onto the table.

"I know he seemed a little upset, but our house did get broken into last night and Im pretty sure we're all a little shaken up. Don't act like I was the only one in Shinji's bed last night." Hikari said with her own cheeks heating up as well as Kodama's.

Kodama cleared her throat and tried to recompose her self. " That's besides the point. You saw how he looked. I mean I know he fought three guys by himself last night , but he just looked...disappointed. Now all I'm suggesting is that we keep an eye on him and make sure he's ok. He may be strong on the outside but he's still very frail on the inside ." She then looked at her wrist watch.

"Look Vera will be here in a bit so I have to run." She said getting up from her seat and grabbing her purse. "Just …..try to find out what's eating him ok? We owe him that much don't we?" Kodama before she started walking towards the front door.

"Have a good day at work." Hikari yelled her back, only to receive a departing wave.

Hikari was left in complete silence. She stood up and deposited her dishes in the sink and went to her room to gather her things.

She looked at the window and saw dark,grey rainclouds rolling in from the mountains and sighed. "Just couldn't be sunny could it." She said as she slipped her satchel over her shoulder.

"Naw that would be too easy."

Hikari turned around to see Shinji standing in her doorway, his black backpack hanging from one shoulder. He was dressed in black uniform pants and a black pair of sneakers. He also had his white uniform shirt on only he left it un tucked.

Ready for to go?" He asked.

"Yeah."

Shinji turned on his heel and started for the door Hikari close behind watching his back as his braid swished back and forth on his white school shirt.

_'Shinji I wish you would talk to us about things instead of locking them up.' _Hikari thought to herself as she closed and locked her new door.

**DOD**

**(Tokyo 3 County Hospital Room 154 )\**

We findKoichi writhing in his bed, garbed in a blue hospital gown with purple polka dots as sweat poured down his bandaged face. His chest was covered by a thin sheet, while his legs were exposed as they were tangled mostly around his left leg.

With his legs in plain sight, one could easily see the thick gauze speckled by blood wrapped around both of his kneecaps.

His eyes started to quiver as they slowly opened as his body started to come into feeling. His vision focused in on the white walls of his room, despite the shades being drawn thus setting the room in a dim but visible light.

After blinking his eyes a number of times, fragments of memory rushed through his skull. His brain finally turned over and pieced together last night's events, the trail going blank after he passed out from a combination of blood loss/pain by the time he was loaded into his car by Van and Koji.

"That little bastard, he think he can get away with this, he think he can hurt me and not pay the consequences!" Koji said as he grit his teeth, resulting in a sharp pain shooting through the entire lower left side of his face.

"God damnit!" He said as he tasted blood in his mouth. He raised his hand to his jaw where a large bandage was placed on his left cheek where the shards of Shinji's glass had impacted and punctured his face.

His vision blurred a little as another sting of pain went up the side of his face. "Fuck me!" He said in agony as he tried hard not to bite down. A hard task for some one in his position.

The room was filled with his rapid breathing as he let the pain subside. Koichi opened his eyes which were closed previously due to pain. He surveyed his surroundings to find himself the only occupant of the room.

" I guess Koji and Van just pulled up to the entrance and rolled me out like a fucking rag doll and sped off!" Koichi screamed as he swiped a glass pitcher onto the floor from a bedside tray.

His pain induced tantrum was forgotten for a few moments as the door clicked.

The door creaked open to reveal Koji with Van right behind him as he entered the room, the latter closing the door behind him.

"Well speak of the useless, what do we have here. Two idiots who can't do one simple fucking thing correctly!" Koichi raged.

Koji sighed and rolled his eyes at his employer while Van on the other hand expressed his feelings in a more vocal manner.

"Wow you sound pretty good for a guy who just had his ass beat despite the fact he had a fucking gun!" Van yelled at the top of his lungs. His face had thick white bandages placed on the most burnt/cut parts of his face.

His eyes were slightly bloodshot and his clothes were ruffled and stained with blood and rum. So he looked worse for wear.

Koichi's eyes widened in anger as he tried to leap from the bed, only to fail miserably as his legs responded in pain.

"Ha! Lets see you get me from there nubby." Van said mockingly with a grin. Koichi could only respond with a pained glare as he continued to try to resist grinding his teeth together as old habits dictated him to do so.

"Talk about wounded pride Hey Koji?" Van said as he turned to his partner only to receive a fist to his already damaged face.

Van was sent face first into a nearby collection of cabinets. "Well I was expecting a high five but we can-"

"**Shut Up! Both of you!** **This is both of your faults!"**Koji roared with his shoulders squared and fists clenched. "If you had your head in the game instead of thinking about your fix Van, you could have at the least thrown a punch instead of crying like a bitch!"

Van shrunk back from the volume of his partner's voice from the floor as he rubbed the side of his face.

His gaze turned to Koichi. "And, you. Instead of a more subtle approach you just had to bust in and try to not only kidnap a girl who obviously doesn't give two shits about you , but you broke down her door and started waving your gun around as if showing her what a deranged lunatic you are will somehow make her want to be any more involved with you than she already is!If I knew that you wouldn't go to your dad and bitch, I would never have agreed to this shit, because I know how incapable, you are, at using, common FUCKING SENSE!" Koji roared at the end with the veins in his neck bulging outwards.

"Couldn't have said it better than myself Koji."

All three of the room's occupants turned their heads to the origin of the voice.

A tall man standing at 6'1 stood in the frame of the now open door. He was dressed in all black attire; shiny black shoes, black pressed pants, black jacket, and a black silk dress shirt with no tie. His hair was a light platinum blonde that was cut short and combed back.

Koji's eyes widened as he saw who it was who spoke, with Van mirroring his actions. "Sir, please forgive me , I was speaking out of place." Koji said as he bowed low in respect.

The man's green eyes twinkled despite the lack of light as he chuckled. "No need Koji,to tell you the truth I was thinking the same thing while I was on my way over here after you called me." He said as he stepped further into the room.

"And now that I see how half witted my dear nephew in here, I can't say I disagree." He said as he made it to the front of Koichi's bed, a slight frown on his face.

"Hello to you too uncle Drake." Koichi said with malice as he cursed Koji internally for getting his uncle involved. As the Father of the crime family's son, he is expected to represent the family in a respectable manner . As of last night he had failed miserably in that one aspect

Now his uncle was here to correct it. If his father was the brains of the family, his brother was the brawn. He was the enforcer, head of security and go to guy when it came to eliminating potential threats to his and his brother's business whether it be personal or professional.

He looked up into his uncle's eyes and felt the room drop significantly in temperature.

"So all grown up and you still don't know the meaning of discretion." He said stressing the word discretion."Don't you realize everything you do reflects upon us as a whole? So when you resort to such reckless actions you make us look bad?" He said gruffly.

"I had everything under control!" Koichi yelled back in response.

"Key word you _had _control ,and Im guessing you lost it right around the time that kid fucked your face up." Drake spoke without missing a beat.

"Look, either way it doesn't involve you I can handle my own problems." Koichi said trying to prove his case.

Drake started to chuckle deeply. "Wrong again nephew, I'm not here to help, your dad sent me to make sure that you embarrass him anymore than you already have. By acting the way you did you could have easily drawn attention to not only yourself but the entire family." Drake said in a grave tone of voice."

This time Koichi's eyes widened. "How does dad know. I thought he was over seas in America trying to expand." Koichi replied in shock, his life support began to beep more rapidly as his heart rate increased.

Drake smirked at his nephew's panic. "Koji your right he does lack common sense, do you really think your dad, as resourceful as he is would leave the country without keeping tabs on you?"

"But how?"

"Well simple I told him after your man here called me." Drake replied nodding over his shoulder towards Koji. "He wasn't as pissed as I thought he would be, you're lucky he's busy or else he would have blown a fuse."

"So what he just sent you here to play babysitter?" Koichi spat.

"Something like that, but looks like I won't have to do much, judging by those wounds you're going to be out of commission for at least a month, maybe even more." He said thoughtfully as he scratched the top of his head.

"A month! Your telling me I'm stuck here for a month!" He said as he accidentally grit his teeth in anger, resulting in another yelp of pain. " How the hell am I supposed to make Kodama mine and squash her annoying bitch boy!?"

"Simple you don't, your father also told me you are to stay away from that girl and anyone associated with her. She works for a firm that handles our money, we have a nice deal set up with them and it would be a waste to sacrifice that for your petty ambitions." Drake said in an absolute tone of voice.

Koichi started to turn red from anger. First some kid gets in the way, then he gets capped in both legs, and his dad doesn't want to do anything about it because of a business deal? Did he mean that little to his father?

As Koichi stewed in his anger and uncertainty, Drake brought up his arm to glance at his watch. "Well it was nice seeing you, and I hope you make less impulsive decisions in the future, but I have a meeting to get to." Drake said as he turned on his heel and started walking.

He stopped as he was next to Koji, He then reached into his pocket and retrieved a wad of bills and tossed them to him. Koji caught them with no difficulty and looked to the man for answers to his generosity.

" Think of it as compensation for your troubles and having to deal with my nephew's idiocy. You seem pretty handy, come see me some time at our main office and I might have some work for you." He said patting him on the shoulder before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

The room was silent as Koji and Van looked at each other, both of them astonished by Drake's actions.

They turned their heads to Koichi. His eyes looked furious as he stared straight forward past them in a fiery gaze. He was gripping the sheet placed over him with both hands in frustration.

"Fuck what he says, as soon as I get out of here I'm picking up right where I started off." He said in finality.

"Whoa you really must be stupid or something, did you not hear what your uncle just said?" Koji said.

"I wouldn't have had to if you kept your trap closed and now I have to deal with my dad as well when he comes back. Shit!" He exclaimed.

"If Drake won't help me then I'll do it myself." Koichi said with his mind made up.

Koji scoffed. "Well you can count me out. I'm pretty sure you heard, but I have better opportunities than cleaning up after you all the time. " Koji said before he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"So what do we do now boss?" Van asked, finally getting up from where Koji had so graciously put him via fist.

"What do you think , we get that little shit stain back for getting in my way yet again. But I can't do shit from this place, and with my uncle keeping tabs on me I can't make any big moves." Koichi said in thought/frustration.

"Well what are you going to do?" Van said as he got closer to Koichi's bed.

Koichi racked his brain for the answer to the question placed in front of him. He looked at his resources ;A junkie who's only useful a third of the time and the money his dad and uncle would be unable to trace. An idea flickered in his head.

"Van my man you just got promoted ." Koichi said with an evil grin.

Van should have felt excited but the phrase enter at your own risk came to mind. Van pushed it from his mind and nodded hesitantly.

**DOD(Shinji&Hikari)**

Shinji shifted into 2nd gear and pressed on the accelerator as he and Hikari made their way to school. Suddenly, Shinji lurched forward from his seat and sneezed.

**ACHOO**!

Hikari jumped from the loud noise. "Wow somebody must really be talking about you." Hikari said.

Shinji wiped the bottom of his nose with his left index finger. "Well if that sneeze is any indication it can't be anything good." Shinji replied as his ear drum was ringing from the sneeze.

He then stopped at a red light, his engine idling at a low tone. As he was waiting for the light to change, specs of water started to hit his windshield.

"Told you so."He said to Hikari as he turned on his wipers.

Shinji pulled his pill bottle from the middle of the console separating his and Hikari's seats. He retrieved a single joint and lit it with his zippo, closing the latter with a click.

Smoke drifted slowly from his nostrils as he turned his radio on**(Play be safe by the cribs for this scene.)**

Hikari saw that the windows were rolled up and knew how potent the smell was. She was about to object , but remembered the previous night's events and for the first time in her life she simply thought.

_'Fuck it'_

Shinji dabbed his joint in the car's ashtray before taking another hit. He noticed the taste was much more refined, similar to what he smoked with Kaji. Shinji thought about the man in question and his actions last night. To Shinji, the man was cast in a new light. He felt like he could actually depend on him, a foreign feeling to the young lad.. _'He did say I could call him anytime, maybe he can help me make sense of this shitty situation.' _Shinji thought to himself.

The light turned green and he pulled off from his spot smoothly as he passed the joint to Hikari. She placed it to her lips and inhaled deeply as the music played in the background. She felt her chest burn as she held it in, a little easier than the last time.

She exhaled as she felt herself relax and took another hit as she looked at the people walking to work as the mellow tone of the music added to the experience.

Shinji on the other hand wore a clear face of apathy. His eyes were dark and his lips were pressed into a thin line. He nonchalantly shifted gears as the car's engine red lined. The rumble of his engine somehow matching the storm clouds over head as they occasionally flashed with lightning.

Hikari turned her gaze to Shinji as she took another hit passed it back to Shinji.

"So are you going to talk to Auska today?"She asked.

Shinji took a hit in response the question before actually speaking. "Honestly I don't want to but I'm going to have to sooner or later." He said before taking another hit. _'I don't even know how I'm going to deal with Misato. I want to live with her , but it's just so frustrating sometimes." _Shinji thought as he shook his head, blowing a torrent of smoke from his nostrils before he flicked the ash off the end of his joint .

"Don't Kensuke and Toji come back to school today?" He said changing the subject as he passed the joint back to her, while still being mindful of the road.

Hikari thought for a moment through her pot haze and nodded her head before taking another hit. "It'll be fun to see them react to how you've changed since they left." She said before taking another hit.

" Well you won't have to wait long." Shinji replied.

Hikari was confused until she took notice of her surroundings. They were slowly pulling in to the student's parking lot in the back of the school.

Hikari took one more hit before passing it to Shinji one final time. He followed her actions and took another long drag before opening the door and dropping it onto the wet concrete below, extinguishing it's flame.

Shinji closed the door and pulled up his parking brake, and shut the car off. He turned his head to Hikari.

Her eyes were completely bloodshot as she stared out the window with a dazed expression on her face as she slumped comfortably.

He reached over from his seat and retrieved a small bottle of eye drops. Hikari slowly looked down as he tossed the bottle into her lap.

"Do I look that bad?" She asked referring to her eyes as she bent her head back to put in the drops.

" Uhuh." Shinji said as he took the drops from her when she was finished to repeat her actions.

"So what do we do about the smell? I'm pretty sure it will be more than notice able."

"Easy." Shinji answered before rolling his window down and placing a cigarette in his mouth. He lit it and took a fairly long drag as he leaned back in his seat.

"At least if we smell like cigarettes we can say some one else were smoking around us, besides who would suspect of us of anything in the first place." Shinji said before taking another drag.

"That is true, after all we are the most harmless of the class, well at least one of us." She said snickering at the end.

Shinji couldn't resist to smile at her joke. He took another drag before a thought popped into his head.

He reached into the back seat and revealed a medium sized roll of gauze he had picked up earlier on the way to school.

With his cigarette pinched in between his lips, he lifted the right sleeve of his dress shirt and started to wrap up his entire tattoo shoulder to elbow.

"I don't want to be bothered today with stupid fucking questions, so I want to keep this hidden for a little while at least." He said answering her unasked question as he secured the wrap with a tightly tied knot.

He then moved on to his bruised knuckles, masking them each in a wrist wrap.**(A/N; what boxers wear under their gloves.) **

He tossed the roll over his shoulder onto the floor behind him. He then reached forward under his seat to reveal the full bottle of Bacardi he had bought , but hadn't broken last night.

He flicked his half finished cigarette out the window and twisted off the cap of the bottle, and took a healthy pull from the bottle as he gripped it by it's neck. His chest burned as the alcohol traveled down his throat.

Normally Shinji doesn't need this type of encouragement before he started his day,but something told him that it was just going to be one of those days .He knew he should have a better excuse than that,but like Hikari after last night he had only one thought in his mind as he pulled the bottle from his lips.

_'Fuck it.'_

He closed the bottle and stashed it under his seat.

"Now I'm ready . C'mon I'd like to get in while the rain has stopped." Shinji said before exiting the car.

Hikari shook her head at her friend's actions .despite her state she had read him like a book. He had indifference spelled clear across his face. _'I see that he's still making an effort , but he's numbing himself in order to do so. The question is why.' _Hikari thought to herself as she too exited the car, satchel in hand as she shut the door. Cool crisp air hit her as the smell of rain entered her nose.

"I guess I'll have to watch and find out." Hikari said to herself as she caught up with Shinji.

**D.O.D**

**Wow talk about a cliff hanger, guess you'll have to find out what happens next time. But in the meantime please review :P**

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